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SHAKESPEARE'S 
TRAGEDY   OF    HAMLET 


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'*&&&■ 


SHAKESPEARE'S 

TRAGEDY  OF 

HAMLET,  PRINCE  OF  DENMARK 


EDITED  WITH  NOTES,  AN  INTRODUCTION  AND 
OUTLINE  QUESTIONS 

BY 

L.    A.    SHERMAN 

PROFESSOR   OF   ENGLISH   LITERATURE   IN   THE   UNIVERSITY 
OF  NEBRASKA 


THE   MACMILLAN    COMPANY 

LONDON:    MACMILLAN   &   CO.,   Ltd. 

1918 

All  rights  reserved 


COFTBIGH'i,    1008, 
Bv   TIIK    MACMILLAN    COMPANY. 

Set  up  and  electrotypcd.      Published  May,  1903.      Reprinted 
September.  1^04  ;  January    1906;   January,  1907  ;   March,  1908. 
January,  1909;  January,  1910  ;   March,  August,  1911;   September 
*y12;  July,  1913  •   Tanusrv,  October,  1014;  Julv,  191s:   March, 
August,  1916;  January,  September,  1917;  January,  1918. 


PR 
7 

INTRODUCTION 

The  play  of  Hamlet,  in  its  accepted  form,  was  first 
published  in  1604.  Shakespeare  was  then  forty  years 
old,  and  had  lived  in  London,  it  is  supposed,  since 
1586.  During  these  eighteen  years  he  seems  to  have 
been  absorbed  in  the  practical  demands  of  theatrical 
life,  and  to  have  been  essentially  denied  the  literal} 
means  of  enlarging  his  preparation  for  the  playwright's 
work.  That  he  was  able  thus  to  produce  in  Hamlet 
one  of  the  most  remarkable  examples  of  secular  litera- 
ture in  the  world  sufficiently  proves  the  genius  of  the 
man.  Other  plays  of  Shakespeare  are  more  finished, 
or  evince  a  nobler  art ;  but  none  has  aroused  such 
interest,  or  become  the  subject  of  so  much  study,  and 
comment,  and  discussion. 

The  groundwork  of  Hamlet  is  borrowed  from  the 
account  of  King  Ambleth  in  the  Historia  Danica  of 
Saxo  Grammaticus,  the  earliest  chronicler  of  Den- 
mark, who  died  in  1204.  It  is  not  clear  how  Shake- 
speare became  acquainted  with  the  story.     There  are 

vii 


VI 11  INTRODUCTION 

reasons  for  supposing  that  the  general  plot  had  been 
treated  by  some  one  of  the  playwrights  preceding 
Shakespeare,  and  that  the  present  play  is  the  product 
of  a  reworking.  It  is  possible,  nevertheless,  that 
Shakespeare  was  the  first  to  use  the  legend.  The 
part  of  the  Saxo  chronicles  dealing  with  Ambleth 
was  translated  and  included  in  the  Histoires  Tra- 
giques  of  Belleforest,  published  at  Paris  in  1570,  and 
this  in  turn  was  rendered  into  English,  under  the  title 
of  TJie  Hystorie  of  Hamhlet,  probably  early  enough  for 
Shakespeare  to  use;  that  is,  before  1589.  Reference 
to  a  play  of  "  Hamlet,"  or  at  least  to  a  character  so 
named,  is  found  in  Greene's  Menaphon,  which  was 
registered  for  publication  in  August  of  that  year. 
The  dramatist  Nash  makes  the  allusion,  while  paying 
his  respects  to  certain  '-'trivial  translators,"  who  were 
abandoning  the  standard  Latin  plays  for  Italian  models, 
in  a  sort  of  introduction  that  he  furnishes  for  this 
work.  "It  is  a  common  practise  now  a  daies,"  he 
says,  "amongst  a  sort  of  shifting  companions,  that 
runne  through  euery  arte  and  thriue  by  none,  to  leaue 
the  trade  of  Nouerint  [or  lawyer]  whereto  they  were 
borne,  and  busie  themselues  with  the  indeuors  of  Art, 
that  could  scarcelie  latinize  their  necke-verse  if  they 
should  haue  neede ;  yet  English  Seneca  read  by  candle 


INTRODUCTION  IX 

light  yeeldes  manie  good  sentences,  as  Bloud  is  a 
begger,  and  so  foorth:  and  if  you  intreate  him  faire 
in  a  frostie  morning,  he  will  affoord  you  whole  Ham- 
lets, I  should  say  handfulls  of  tragical  speaches." 

There  was  then  a  "  Hamlet "  of  some  sort  in  exist- 
ence as  early  as  1589,  and  of  such  a  sort  as  to  have 
become  a  matter  of  popular  or  general  remark.  Yet 
it  is  far  from  probable  that  such  a  drama  was  the  work 
of  Shakespeare ;  it  is  too  early.  He  may  have  begun 
to  recast  plays,  but  probably  not  to  produce  them 
unassisted.  But  it  appears  that  the  piece,  whatever 
its  quality,  was  played  by  the  company  of  actors  that 
Shakespeare  had  joined ;  as  an  entry  in  Henslowe's 
Diary  (p.  35,  Shakespeare  Society  edition)  conven- 
iently proves : — 

In  the  name  of  God  Amen,  beginninge  at  Newington, 
my  Lord  Admeralle  and  my  Lorde  chamberlen  men,  as 
foloweth.     1594 :  — 

3  of  June  1594,  Ed  at  Heaster  and  asheweros  .   viijs 

4  of  June  1594,  Ed  at  the  Jewe  of  malta    .  .       xs 

5  of  June  1594,  Rd  at  andronicous      .         .  :    xijs 

6  of  June  1594,  Rd  at  cutlacke    .         .         .  .      xjs 

8  of  June  1594,  ne  Rd  at  bellendon      .         .         .  xvijs 

9  of  June  1594,  Rd  at  hamlet      ....   viijs 


X  INTRODUCTION 

Shakespeare's  company,  called  at  this  time  the  Lord 
Chamberlain's  Players,  were  evidently  playing  along 
with  the  Lord  Admiral's  company  at  the  Newington 
theatre.  Henslowe's  share  of  the  receipts  from  Ham- 
let was  as  little  as  from  the  rendition  of  Esther  and 
Ahasuerus,  and  less  than  from  the  Cutlack  and  the 
BeUendon,  which  were  undoubtedly  very  poor  affairs. 
We  can  hardly  conceive  then  that  the  play  is  Shake- 
speare's. It  would  surely  rank  in  popularity  as  at 
least  the  equal  of  Titus  Andronicus,  which  we  learn, 
by  turning  back  the  leaf  in  Henslowe,  was  a  new  play 
—  being  marked  ne,  like  BeUendon  in  the  list  above  — 
on  January  23  of  the  year  before,  and  was  rendered 
again  on  the  28th,  and  yet  again  on  February  6.  It 
is  not  likely  that  this  play  is  the  Titus  Andronicus, 
ascribed  to  Shakespeare,  that  we  know. 

A  further  hint  that  the  play  in  question  is  not 
the  Hamlet  of  this  volume  is  found  in  Lodge's  pam- 
phlet, Wits  miserie,  and  the  Worlds  madnesse,  discover- 
ing the  Devils  incarnat  of  this  Age,  which  dates  from 
L596.  One  of  these  devils,  the  Hate-virtue,  is  de- 
scribed as  "  a  foule  lubber,  and  looks  as  pale  as  the 
visard  of  ye  ghost,  which  cried  so  miserally  at  ye 
theator,  like  an  oisterwife,  Hamlet  renenge."  As  no 
such  expression  occurs  in  the  present  play,  it  would 


INTRODUCTION  XI 

seem  to  have  belonged  to  the  Ghost's  part  in  the 
former  piece,  and  to  have  been  made  much  of  sensa- 
tionally by  the  playgoers,  since  several  allusions  to  it 
are  met  with  in  the  literature  of  the  time.  The  lines 
most  nearly  akin  (I.  v.  25,  91)  in  the  present  text  — 
"  Revenge  his  most  foul  and  unnatural  murder,"  and 
"  Adieu,  adieu !  Hamlet,  remember  me  "  —  cannot, 
with  their  lighter  elocution,  be  identified  with  such 
a  phrase. 

The  play  that  Shakespeare  constructed  out  of  this 
earlier  drama,  or  perhaps  wrote  at  first  hand  from 
the  Hystorie,  can  hardly  have  taken  shape  before  the 
spring  or  summer  of  1602.  In  July  of  this  year 
James  Roberts  secured  an  entry  in  the  Stationers' 
Register  for  "A  booke  called  the  Revenge  of  HAM- 
LETT  Prince  Denmarke  as  yt  loas  latelie  Acted  by  the 
lord  Chamberleyne  his  servantes."  It  does  not  appear 
that  any  book  thus  styled  was  ever  printed.  It  is 
believed  that  the  work  intended  was  issued  the  year 
following  with  this  title,  "  THE  Tragicall  Historie  of 
HAMLET  Prince  of  Denmarke  By  William  Shake- 
speare. As  it  hath  beene  diuerse  times  acted  by  his 
Highnesse  seruants  in  the  Cittie  of  Loudon :  as  also  in 
the  two  Vniuersities  of  Cambridge  and  Oxford,  and 
else-where."     This  is  known  as  the  First  Quarto.     The 


xil  INTRODUCTION 

text  thus  published  is  identical  with  the  eventual  play 
in  many  passages,  but  in  others  seems  wholly  at  war 
with  Shakespeare's  characteristic  diction  and  manner. 
Opening  at  random  we  find,  — 

"  Yea,  murder  in  the  highest  degree, 
As  in  the  least  tis  bad, 
But  mine  most  foule,  beastly  and  vnnaturall," — 

answering  (I.  v.  27,  28)  to  these  words  of  the  Ghost 
to  Hamlet :  — 

"  Murder  most  foul,  as  in  the  best  it  is, 
But  this  most  foul,  strange,  and  unnatural." 

Again,  instead  (V.  i.  279-281  and  284-294)  of 

"  I  lov'd  Ophelia  ;  forty  thousand  brothers 
Could  not,  with  all  their  quantity  of  love, 
Make  up  my  sum.     What  wilt  thou  do  for  her  ? 
'Swounds,  show  me  what  thou'lt  do. 
Woo't  weep  ?    Woo't  fight  ?    Woo't  fast  ?    Wool 

tear  thyself  ? 
Woo't  drink  up  eisel,  eat  a  crocodile  ? 
I'll  do't.     Dost  thou  come  here  to  whine  ? 
To  outface  me  with  leaping  in  her  grave  ? 
Be  buried  quick  with  her,  and  so  will  I, 
And,  if  thou  prate  of  mountains,  let  them  throw 
Millions  of  acres  on  us,  till  our  ground, 


INTRODUCTION  Xlll 

Singeing  his  pate  against  the  burning  zone, 
Make  Ossa  like  a  wart !    Nay,  an  thou'lt  mouth, 
I'll  rant  as  well  as  thou." 

we  have  these  halting  and  pitiable  lines, — 

"  I  lou'de  Ofelia  as  cleare  as  twenty  brothers  could : 
Shew  me  what  thou  wilt  doe  for  her: 
Wilt  fight,  wilt  fast,  wilt  pray, 
Wilt  drinke  up  vessels,  eate  a  crocadile  ?     He  doot : 
Com'st  thou  here  to  whine  ? 
And  where  thou  talk'st  of  burying  thee  a  Hue, 
Here  let  vs  stand  :  and  let  them  throw  on  vs, 
Whole  hills  of  earth,  till  with  the  h eighth  thereof, 
Make  Oosell  as  a  Wart." 

There  is  little  hint  of  Shakespeare's  power  and  skill 
in  evidence  here.  "  Oosell,"  of  the  last  line,  which 
does  not  look  like  a  printer's  blunder,  suggests  the 
effort  of  an  insufficient  mind  to  report  something  that 
has  been  heard,  but  not  understood.  There  are  other 
passages  much  more  distantly  akin  to  the  eventual 
readings,  and  sometimes  hardly  to  be  accepted  as 
better  than  a  travesty  of  their  sense.  Hence  it  has 
been  supposed  that  the  text  in  question  was  obtained 
surreptitiously,  perhaps  by  copying  and  memorizing 
the  parts  as  heard  from  the  lips  of  the  actors  in  the 
playhouse.     The  lines  often  seem  made  up  from  catch- 


XIV  INTRODUCTION 

words,  the  metre  is  broken,  and  there  are  frantic  efforts 
to  say  compensatively  in  large  something  not  fully 
grasped  or  appreciated  in  details.  Other  explanations 
have  been  proposed  to  account  for  the  peculiarities 
of  the  First  Quarto,  but  they  are  not  more  generally 
approved. 

In  1604  another  edition,  differing  materially  from 
the  preceding,  was  published  with  the  following  title- 
page,  "  THE  Tragicall  Historie  of  HAMLET,  Prince 
of  Denmarke.  By  William  Shakespeare.  Newly  im- 
printed and  enlarged  to  almost  as  much  againe  as  it 
was,  according  to  the  true  and  perfect  Coppie.  AT 
L(  >Nl)ON,  Printed  by  I.  R  for  N.  L.  and  are  to  be  sold 
at  his  shoppe  vnder  Saint  Dunstons  Church  in  Fleet- 
street.  1604."  This  is  the  Second  Quarto,  and  is  in 
many  respects  the  most  important  of  all  the  texts. 
Another  issue  of  the  play,  known  as  the  Third  Quarto, 
appeared  in  1605.  There  was  a  Fourth  Quarto,  printed 
in  1611,  and  there  was  also  a  Fifth,  showing  no  date, 
but  probably  published  considerabty  later.  No  other 
issues  of  Hamlet  are  heard  of  until  the  printing  of 
the  First  Folio  in  1623.  This,  which  is  now  accepted 
in  general  as  the  standard  text  of  Shakespeare,  for  the 
thirty-five  plays  that  appear  in  it,  furnishes  a  some- 
what less  complete  form  of  the  piece  than  the  Second 


INTRODUCTION  xv 

Quarto,  and  shows  some  rather  egregious  typographic 
errors  Most  editors,  and  notably  Clark  and  Wright 
in  the  Globe  and  Cambridge  editions,  follow  the  Sec- 
ond Quarto.  The  lines  of  the  present  text  reproduce 
where  practicable  the  readings  of  the  First  Folio. 

The  Hystorie  of  Hamblet,  from  which  Shakespeare 
or  the  antecedent  playwright  drew,  is  a  long  and  dis- 
cursive story,  impracticable  to  quote.  The  headings 
of  the  first  six  chapters  will  show  how  closely  the 
original  has  been  followed :  — 

Chap.  I.  How  Horvendile  and  Fengon  were  made  Govem- 
ours  of  the  Province  of  Ditmarse,  and  how  Horvendile  marryed 
Geruth,  the  daughter  to  Roderick,  chief  K.  of  Denmark,  by 
whom  he  had  Hamblet:  and  how  after  his  marriage  his  brother 
Fengon  slewe  him  trayterously,  and  marryed  his  brothers  wife, 
and  what  followed. 

Chap.  II.  How  Hamblet  counterfeited  the  mad,  man,  to 
escape  the  tyrannic,  of  his  uncle,  and  how  he  was  tempted  by  a 
woman  {through  his  uncles  procurement)  who  thereby  thought 
to  undermine  the  Prince,  and  by  that  meanes  to  finde  out 
whether  he  counterfeited  madnesse  or  not:  and  how  Hamblet 
would  by  no  meanes  bee  brought  to  consent  unto  her,  and  what 
followed. 

Chap.  III.  How  Fengon,  uncle  to  Hamblet,  a  second  time 
to  intrap  him  in  his  politick  madnes,  caused  one  of  his  counsel- 
lors to  be  secretly  hidden  in  the  queenes  chamber,  behind  the 
arras,  to  heare  lohat  speeches  passed  between  Hamblet  and  the 


XVI  INTRODUCTION 

Queen  ;  and  how  Hamblet  killed  him,  and  escaped  that  danger. 
and  what  followed. 

Chap.  IIII.  How  Fengon  the  third  time  devised  to  send 
Hamblet  to  the  king  of  England,  with  secret  letters  to  have  him 
put  to  death:  and  how  Hamblet,  when  his  companions  slept, 
read  the  h  ttt  rs,  and  instead  of  them  counterfeited  others,  willing 
the  king  of  England  to  put  the  two  messengers  to  death,  and  to 
marry  his  daughter  to  Hamblet,  which  was  effected;  and  how 
Hamblet  escaped  out  of  England. 

Chap.  V.  How  Hamblet,  /taring  escaped  out  of  England, 
arrived  in  Denmarke  the  same  day  that  the  Danes  were  cele- 
brating his  funerals,  supposing  him  to  be  dead  in  England; 
and  how  he  revenged  his  fathers  death  upon  his  uncle  and  the 
rest  of  the  courtiers;  and  what  followed* 

Chap.  VI.  How  Hamlet,  having  slain  his  Uncle,  and  burnt 
his  Palace,  made  an  Oration  to  the  Danes  to  shew  them  what  he 
done;  and  how  they  made  him  King  of  Denmark;  and  what 
followed. 

The  play  of  Hamlet,  while  the  most  unsatisfying 
of  Shakespeare's  dramas,  is  perhaps  to  the  majority 
of  students  and  readers  the  most  inspiring.  Those 
who  comprehend  it  least,  or  are  most  in  doubt  as  to 
its  essential  meanings,  are  often  most  completely  under 
its  spell.  It  carries  the  reader  and  the  spectator  to 
high  planes  of  contemplation.  It  makes  profound  and 
philosophical  thought  seem  fascinating  even  to  vulgar 
minds.     It  reveals  the  subtleties,  the  frames,  the  pas- 


INTRODUCTION  xvii 

sions,  of  a  singularly  noble  spirit.  We  do  not  sym- 
pathize with  the  hero  in  every  part  of  the  play,  but 
we  everywhere  admire  and  covet  his  integrity  and 
strength.  Indeed,  the  character,  with  its  self-ques- 
tionings and  intolerance  of  wrong  and  weakness,  seems 
a  complete  type  of  the  northern  mind,  as  Brutus,  in 
the  Julius  Ccesar,  seems  a  type  of  the  classical  or 
southern.  Brutus  could  not  be  brought,  by  anything 
less  than  failure,  to  distrust  the  sufficiency  of  his 
integrity  and  his  name.  But  Hamlet,  had  the  time 
not  been  out  of  joint,  and  had  he  not,  in  his  own  view, 
been  bom  merely  to  set  it  right,  won  Id  still  have 
lived  virtually  in  self-condemnation.  It  is  seemingly 
this  aspiration  and  unrest,  so  inherent  in  the  nature 
of  his  race,  that  has  brought  the  character  and  the 
play  so  near  the  sympathies  of  the  Teutonic  world. 

Three  things  are  requisite  for  the  understanding 
and  appreciation  of  Shakespeare's  work.  The  first  is 
some  knowledge  of  the  Elizabethan  peculiarities  in 
the  English  of  a  given  play.  The  second  is  such 
acquaintance  with  the  Latin  part  of  our  present  Eng- 
lish vocabulary,  and,  if  possible,  with  the  elements  of 
Latin  itself,  as  will  insure  recognition  of  the  nice 
distinctions  in  Shakespeare's  personal  use  of  words, 
and  his  occasional  dependence  upon  constructions,  bor- 


Xviii  INTRODUCTION 

rowed  from  that  language.  The  Notes  are  intended 
to  supply  as  much  as  seems  practicable  of  both  these 
wants,  and  to  encourage  further  study  of  the  sugges- 
tive and  powerful  diction  abounding  in  this  play. 
Finally  aud  chiefly,  there  is  need  of  gifts  and  training 
to  discern  the  deeper  meanings  of  the  author.  These 
are  often  missed,  and  indeed  are  not  very  confidently 
grasped  by  the  best  of  us.  To  reduce  the  unit  of 
difficulty  in  this  part  of  the  work,  Outline  Questions 
have*  been  added  after  the  Notes.  More  mature 
attempts  to  solve  the  difficulties  of  the  piece  should 
be  preceded,  with  such  helps  as  Furness's  Variorum 
Hamlet,  Schmidt's  Shakespeare  Lexicon,  and  especially 
the  Oxford  English  Dictionary,  by  a  closer  study  of 
the  text.  A  convenient  summary  of  the  best  criticism 
will  be  found  in  the  second  volume  of  Dr.  Furness's 
Variorum. 


HAMLET,   PRINCE   OF  DENMARK 


■  courtiers. 


DRAMATIS    PERSONS 

Claudius,  king  of  Denmark. 

Hamlet,  son  to  the  late,  and  nephew  to  the  present  king. 

Polonius,  lord  chamberlain. 

Horatio,  friend  to  Hamlet. 

Laertes,  son  to  Polonius. 

voltimand, 

Cornelius, 

rosencrantz, 

Guildenstern, 

OSRIC, 

A  Gentleman. 

A  Priest. 

Marcellus,  l  s> 

Bernardo,     J     * 

Francisco,  a  soldier. 

Reynaldo,  servant  to  Polonius. 

Players. 

Two  Clowns,  grave-diggers. 

Fortinbras,  prince  of  Norway. 

A  Captain. 

English  Ambassadors. 

Gertrude,  queen  of  Denmark,  and  mother  to  Hamlet, 
Ophelia,  daughter  to  Polonius. 

Lords,  Ladies,  Officers,  Soldiers,  Sailors,  Messengers, 
and  other  Attendants. 

Ghost  of  Hamlet's  Father. 

Scene:  Denmark. 


HAMLET 


ACT   I 

Scene  I.      Elsinore.      A  Platform  before  the  Castle0 

Francisco  at  his  post.     Enter  to  him  Bernardo 

Bernardo.    Who's  there  ? 

Francisco.    Nay,  answer   me.       Stand,  and   unfold 

yourself. 
Bernardo.    Long  live  the  king0 ! 
Francisco.    Bernardo  ? 

Bernardo.    He.  5 

Francisco.    You    come    most    carefully    upon    your 

hour.0 
Bernardo.    Tis  now  struck  twelve ;  get  thee  to  bed, 

Francisco. 
Francisco.    For  this  relief  much0  thanks :  'tis  bittei 

cold, 
And  I  am  sick  at  heart. 

b  1 


2  HAM  LET  [Act  I. 

Bernardo.    Have  you  had  quiet  guard  ? 

Francisco.  Not  a  mouse  stirring.     10 

Bernardo.    Well,  good  night. 
If  you  do  meet  Horatio  and  Marcellus, 
The  rivals0  of  my  watch,  bid  them  make  haste. 

Francisco.    I  think  I  hear  them.  —  Stand,  ho !    Who's 
there  ? 

Enter  Horatio  and  Makcellus 

Horatio.   Friends  to  this  ground. 

Marcellus.  And  liegemen  to  the  Dane.0     ie 

Francisco.    Give  you  good  night. 

Marcellus.  0,  farewell,  honest  soldier : 

Who  hath  reliev'd  you  ? 

Francisco.  Bernardo  has  my  place. 

Give  you°  good  night.  [Exit. 

Marcellus.  Holla !     Bernardo ! 

Bernardo.  Say, 

What,  is  Horatio  there  ? 

Horatio.  A  piece  of  him. 

Bernardo.   Welcome,  Horatio.    Welcome,  good  Mar- 
cellus. 20 

Marcellus.   What,   has    this    thing    appear'd    again 
to-night  ? 

Bernardo.    I  have  seen  nothing. 


scene  1]  HAMLET  3 

Marcellus.    Horatio  says  'tis  but  our  fantasy,0 
And  will  not  let  belief  take  hold  of  him 
Touching  this  dreaded  sight,  twice  seen  of  us :  25 

Therefore  I  have  entreated  him  along 
With  us  to  watch  the  minutes  of  this  night, 
That  if  again  this  apparition  come, 
He  may  approve0  our  eyes  and  speak  to  it. 

Horatio.   Tush,  tush,  'twill  not  appear. 

Bernardo.  Sit  down  awhile ;     30 

And  let  us  once  again  assail  your  ears, 
That  are  so  fortified  against  our  story 
What  we  two  nights  have  seen. 

Horatio.  Well,  sit  we0  down, 

And  let  us  hear  Bernardo  speak  of  this. 

Bernardo.   Last  night  of  all,  35 

When  yond  same  star  that's  westward  from  the  pole0 
Had  made  his  course  to  illume  that  part  of  heaven 
Where  now  it  burns,  Marcellus  and  myself, 
The  bell  then  beating  one,  — 

Enter  Ghost 

Marcellus.    Peace,  break  thee0  off.     Look,  where  it 

comes  again !  40 

Bernardo.  In  the  same  figure,  like  the  king  that's 
dead. 


4  HAMLET  [Act  I 

Marcellus.    Thou  art  a  scholar0 ;  speak  to  it,  Horatio. 
Bernardo.    Looks  it  not  like    the   king  ?     Mark  it, 

Horatio. 
Horatio.    Most  like ;  it   harrows    me  with  fear  and 

wonder. 
Bernardo.    It  would  be  spoke  to.0 
Marcellus.  Question  it,  Horatio.     45 

Horatio.    What  art  thou  that  usurp'st0  this  time  of 
night, 
Together  with  that  fair  and  warlike  form 
In  which  the  majesty  of  buried  Denmark0 
Did    sometimes   march  ?     By  heaven   I   charge  thee, 
speak ! 
Marcellus.    It  is  offended. 

Bernardo.  See,  it  stalks  away  !     50 

Horatio.    Stay  !  Speak,  speak  !    I  charge  thee,  speak ! 

[Exit  Ghost. 
Marcellus.    'Tis  gone,  and  will  not  answer. 
Bernardo.    How    now,    Horatio !  you   tremble,    and 
look  pale. 
Is  not  this  something  more  than  fantasy  ? 
What  think  you  on't?  55 

Horatio.    Before  my  God,  I  might0  not  this  believe 
Without  the  sensible  and  true  avouch 
Of  mine  own  eyes. 


scene  1]  HAMLET  5 

Marcellus.  Is  it  not  like  the  king  ? 

Horatio.    As  thou  art  to  thyself. 
Such  was  the  very  armour  he  had  on  60 

When  he  the  ambitious  Norway  combated ; 
So  frown'd  he  once,  when,  in  an  angry  parle,° 
He  smote  the  sledded  Polacks0  on  the  ice. 
"lis  strange. 

Marcellus.    Thus  twice  before,  and  jump0  at  this  dead 
hour,  65 

With  martial  stalk  hath  he  gone  by  our  watch. 

Horatio.    In  what  particular  thought  to  work  I  know 
not; 
But  in  the  gross  and  scope0  of  my  opinion, 
This  bodes  some  strange  eruption  to  our  state. 

Marcellus.    Good   now,0  sit  down,  and   tell  me,  he 
that  knows,  7° 

Why  this  same  strict  and  most  observant  watch 
So  nightly  toils0  the  subject  of  the  land, 
And  why  such  daily  cast  of  brazen  cannon, 
And  foreign  mart  for  implements0  of  war ; 
Why  such  impress0  of  shipwrights,  whose  sore  task  75 
Does  not  divide  the  Sunday  from  the  week ; 
What  might  be  toward,0  that  this  sweaty  haste 
Doth  make  the  night  joint-labourer  with  the  day  ? 
Who  is't  that  can  inform  me  ? 


6  HAMLET  [Act  I 

Horatio.  That  can  I,  — 

At  least,  the  whisper  goes  so.     Our  last  king,  So 

Whose  image  even  but  now  appear'd  to  us, 
Was,  as  }7ou  know,  by  Fortinbras  of  Norway, 
Thereto  prick:d  on  by  a  most  emulate0  pride, 
Dar'd  to  the  combat;  in  which  our  valiant  Hamlet  — 
For  so  this  side  of  our  known  world  esteem'd  him  -      85 
Did  slay  this  Fortinbras ;  who,  by  a  seal'd  compact, 
Well  ratified  by  law  and  heral'dry, 
Did  forfeit,  with  his  life,  all  those  his  lands 
Which  he  stood  seiz'd  of,°  to  the  conqueror : 
Against  the  which,  a  moiety  competent0  90 

Was  gaged0  by  our  king;  which  had  return'd 
To  the  inheritance  of  Fortinbras, 
Had  he  been  vanquisher ;  as,  by  the  same  covenant, 
And  carriage0  of  the  article  design'd, 
His  fell  to  Hamlet.     Now,  sir,  young  Fortinbras,       95 
Of  unimproved0  mettle  hot  and  full, 
Hath  in  the  skirts  of  Norway  here  and  there 
Shark'd  up°  a  list  of  lawless  resolutes, 
For  food  and  diet,  to  some  enterprise 
That  hath  a  stomach0  in't;  which  is  no  other—         10a 
As  it  doth  well  appear  unto  our  state  — 
But  to  recover  of  us,  by  strong  hand 
And  terms  compulsative,  those  foresaid  lands 


scene  1]  HAMLET  7 

So  by  his  father  lost :  and  this,  I  take  it, 
Is  the  main  motive  of  our  preparations,  105 

The  source  of  this  our  watch  and  the  chief  head 
Of  this  post-haste  and  romage0  in  the  land. 

Bernardo.    I  think  it  be  no  other  but  e'en  so. 
Well  may  it  sort0  that  this  portentous  figure 
Comes  armed  through  our  watch;  so  like  the  king    no 
That  was  and  is  the  question  of  these  wars. 

Horatio.   A  mote0  it  is  to  trouble  the  mind's  eye. 
In  the  most  high  and  palmy  state  of  Rome, 
A  little  ere  the  mightiest  Julius  fell, 
The  graves  stood  tenantless,  and  the  sheeted  dead     115 
Did  squeak  and  gibber0  in  the  Roman  streets : 
As  stars0  with  trains  of  fire  and  dews  of  blood, 
Disasters  in  the  sun  ;  and  the  moist  star0 
Upon  whose  influence  Neptune's  empire  stands 
Was  sick  almost  to  doomsday0  with  eclipse:  120 

And  even  the  like  precurse0  of  fierce  events, 
As  harbingers  preceding  still0  the  fates 
And  prologue  to  the  omen°  coming  on, 
Have  heaven  and  earth  together  demonstrated 
Unto  our  climatures0  and  countrymen.  —  125 

But  soft,  behold !     Lo,  where  it  comes  again ! 


8  HAMLET  [Act  1 

Reenter  Ghost 

I'll  cross  it,  though  it  blast0  me.  —  Stay,  illusion  ! 

If  thou  hast  any  sound,  or  use  of  voice, 

Speak  to  me. 

If  there  be  any  good  thing  to  be  done,  13c 

That  may  to  thee  do  ease  and  grace  to  me, 

Speak  to  me.  [Cock  crows. 

If  thou  art  privy  to  thy  country's  fate, 

Which  happily0  foreknowing  may  avoid, 

0,  speak  !  '35 

Or  if  thou  hast  uphoarded  in  thy  life 

Extorted  treasure  in  the  womb  of  earth 

For  which,  they  say,  you  spirits  oft  walk  in  death, 

[  The  cock  crows. 
Speak  of  it.     Stay,  and  speak!  —  Stop  it,  Marcellus. 

Marcellus.    Shall  I  strike  at  it  with  my  partisan0  ?  140 

Horatio.    Do,  if  it  will  not  stand. 

Bernardo.  'Tis  here ! 

Horatio.  'Tis  here ! 

Marcellus.    'Tis  gone  !  [Exit  Ghost. 

We  do  it  wrong,  being  so  majestical, 
To  offer  it  the  show  of  violence  ; 

For  it  is,  as  the  air,  invulnerable,  145 

And  our  vain  blows  malicious  mockery. 


scene  1]  HAMLET  9 

Bernardo.    It   was   about   to  speak,  when  the  cock 
crew. 

Horatio.    And  then  it  started  like  a  guilty  thing 
Upon  a  fearful  summons.     I  have  heard, 
The  cock,  that  is  the  trumpet  to  the  morn,  150 

Doth  with  his  lofty0  and  shrill-sounding  throat 
Awake  the  god  of  day ;  and,  at  his  warning, 
Whether  in  sea  or  fire,  in  earth  or  air, 
The  extravagant  and  erring0  spirit  hies 
To  his  confine0  :  and  of  the  truth  herein  155 

This  present  object  made  probation.0 

Marcellus.    It  faded  on  the  crowing  of  the  cock. 
Some  say  that  ever  'gainst0  that  season  comes 
Wherein  our  Saviour's  birth  is  celebrated, 
The  bird  of  dawning  singeth  all  night  long :  160 

And  then,  they  say,  no  spirit  dare  stir  abroad; 
The  nights  are  wholesome;  then  no  planets  strike,0 
No  fairy  takes,0  nor  witch  hath  power  to  charm, 
So  hallow'd  and  so  gracious  is  the  time. 

Horatio.    So  have  I  heard,  and  do  in  part  believe  it. 
But,  look,  the  morn,  in  russet  mantle  clad,  166 

Walks  o'er  the  dew  of  yon  high  eastern  hill. 
Break  we  our  watch  up ;  and,  by  my  advice, 
Let  us  impart  what  we  have  seen  to-night 
Unto  young  Hamlet;  for,  upon  my  life,  170 


10  HAMLET  [Act  I. 

This  spirit,  dumb  to  us,  will  speak  to  him. 
Do  you  consent  we  shall  acquaint  him  with  it, 
As  needful  in  our  loves,0  fitting  our  duty  ? 

Marcellus.    Let's  do't,  I  pray  ;  and  I  this  morning 
know 
Where  we  shall  find  him  most  conveniently.     [Exeunt. 


Scene  II.     A  Room  of  State  in  the  Castle 

Enter  the  King,  Queen,  Hamlet,  Polonius,  Laertes. 
Voltimand,  Cornelius,  Lords  and  Attendants 

King.    Though  yet   of   Hamlet  our   dear   brother's 
death 
The  memory  be  green,  and  that0  it  us  befitted 
To  bear  our  hearts  in  grief  and  our  whole  kingdom 
To  be  contracted  in  one  brow  of  woe,0 
Yet  so  far  hath  discretion  fought  with  nature  5 

That  we  with  wisest  sorrow  think  on  him, 
Together  with  remembrance  of  ourselves. 
Therefore  our  sometime  sister,  now  our  queen, 
The  imperial  jointress0  of  this  warlike  state, 
Have  we,  as  'twere  with  a  defeated0  joy, —  ia 

With  an  auspicious0  and  a  dropping  eye, 
With  mirth  in  funeral  and  with  dirge  in  marriage, 


scene  2]  HAMLET  11 

In  equal  scale  weighing  delight  and  dole,  — 

Taken  to  wife.   Nor  have  we  herein  barr  d° 

Your  better  wisdoms,  which  have  freely  gone  15 

With  this  affair  along.     For  all,  our  thanks. 

Now  follows,  that  you  know,  young  Fortinbras, 

Holding  a  weak  supposal0  of  our  worth, 

Or  thinking  by  our  late  dear  brother's  death 

Our  state  to  be  disjoint  and  out  of  frame,  20 

Colleagued  with  the  dream  of  his  advantage,  — 

He  hath  not  fail'd  to  pester  us  with  message, 

Importing0  the  surrender  of  those  lands 

Lost  by  his  father,  with  all  bonds  of  law, 

To  our  most  valiant  brother.     So  much  for  him.         25 

Now  for  ourself,  and  for  this  time  of  meeting. 

Thus  much  the  business  is :  we  have  here  writ 

To  Norway,  uncle  of  young  Fortinbras,  — 

Who,  impotent  and  bed-rid,  scarcely  hears 

Of  this  his  nephew's  purpose,  —  to  suppress  30 

His  further  gait0  herein  ;  in  that  the  levies, 

The  lists  and  full  proportions,0  are  all  made 

Out  of  his  subject.     And  we  here  dispatch 

You,  good  Cornelius,  and  you,  Voltimand, 

For  bearers  of  this  greeting  to  old  Norway  ;  35 

Giving  to  you  no  further  personal  power 

To  business  with  the  king,  more  than  the  scope 


12  HAMLET  [Act  1 

Of  these  dilated0  articles  allow. 

Farewell,  and  let  your  haste  commend  your  duty.0 

Co  )*7\  cliu  s      ) 

„  ,  .        ',    [■   In  that  and  all  things  will  we  show 

Voltimand.  ) 

our  duty.  40 

King.    We  doubt  it  nothing :  heartily  farewell. 

[Exeunt  Voltimand  and  Cornelius. 
And  now,  Laertes,  what's  the  news  with  you  ? 
You  told  us  of  some  suit ;  what  is't,  Laertes  ? 
You  cannot  speak  of  reason  to  the  Dane,0 
And    lose    your    voice.0     What    wouldst    thou    beg, 
Laertes,  45 

That  shall  not  be  my  offer,  not  thy  asking  ? 
The  head  is  not  more  native  to  the  heart, 
The  hand  more  instrumental0  to  the  mouth, 
Than  is  the  throne  of  Denmark  to  thy  father. 
What  wouldst  thou  have,  Laertes? 

Laertes.  Dread  my  lord,    50 

Your  leave  and  favour0  to  return  to  France ; 
From    whence    though    willingly    I    came    to    Den- 
mark, 
To  show  my  duty  in  your  coronation, 
Yet  now,  I  must  confess,  that  duty  done, 
My  thoughts  and  wishes  bend  again  toward  France,  55 
And  bow  them0  to  your  gracious  leave  and  pardon. 


scene  2]  HAMLET  13 

King.   Have  you  your  father's  leave  ?     What  says 
Polonius  ?         * 

Polonius.    He  hath,  my  lord,  wrung   from  me   my 
slow0  leave 
By  laboursome  petition,  and  at  last 
Upon  his  will  I  seal'd  my  hard  consent.0  60 

I  do  beseech  you,  give  him  leave  to  go. 

King.   Take  thy  fair  hour,  Laertes  ;  time  be  thine, 
And  thy  best  graces  spend  it0  at  thy  will ! 
But  now,  my  cousin  Hamlet,  and  my  son,  — 

Hamlet.    \_Aside~]   A  little  more  than  kin,  and  less 
than  kind.0  65 

King.    How  is  it  that  the  clouds  still  hang  on  you  ? 

Hamlet.    Not  so,  my  lord ;  I  am  too  much  i'  the  sun. 

Queen.   Good  Hamlet,  cast  thy  nighted  colour  off, 
And  let  thine  eye  look  like  a  friend  on  Denmark. 
Do  not  for  ever  with  thy  vailed  lids°  70 

Seek  for  thy  noble  father  in  the  dust. 
Thou  knowst  'tis  common;  all  that  lives  must  die, 
Passing  through  nature  to  eternity. 

Hamlet.    Ay,  madam,  it  is  common. 

Queen.  If  it  be, 

Why  seems  it  so  particular  with  thee  ?  75 

Hamlet.    Seems,   madam !  nay,  it   is.     I  know  not 
"  seems." 


14  HAMLET  [Act  L 

'Tis  not  alone  my  inky  cloak,  good  mother, 

Nor  customary  suits  of  solemn  black, 

Nor  windy  suspiration  of  forc'd  breath, 

No,  nor  the  fruitful  river  in  the  eye,  80 

Nor  the  dejected  haviour0  of  the  visage, 

Together  with  all  forms,  moods,  shows  of  grief, 

That  can  denote0  me  truly.     These  indeed  seem, 

For  they  are  actions  that  a  man  might  play. 

But  I  have  that  within  which  passeth  show ;  85 

These  but  the  trappings  and  the  suits  of  woe. 

King.   'Tis  sweet  and  commendable0  in  your  nature, 
Hamlet, 
To  give  these  mourning  duties0  to  your  father. 
But,  you  must  know,  your  father  lost  a  father ; 
That  father  lost,0  lost  his,  and  the  survivor  bound      90 
In  filial  obligation  for  some  term 
To  do  obsequious0  sorrow.     But  to  persever 
In  obstinate  condolement0  is  a  course 
Of  impious  stubbornness;  'tis  unmanly  grief; 
It  shows  a  will  most  incorrect0  to  heaven,  95 

A  heart  unfortified,  a  mind  impatient, 
An  understanding  simple  and  unschool'd. 
For  what  we  know  must  be  and  is  as  common 
As  any  the  most  vulgar  thing  to  sense,0 
Why  should  we  in  our  peevish  opposition  100 


scene  2]  HAMLET  15 

Take  it  to  heart  ?     Fie  !  'tis  a  fault  to  heaven, 

A  fault  against  the  dead,  a  fault  to  nature, 

To  reason  most  absurd ;  whose  common  theme 

Is  death  of  fathers,  and  who  still  hath  cried, 

From  the  first  corse  till  he°  that  died  to-day,  105 

"  This  must  be  so."     We  pray  you,  throw  to  earth 

This  unprevailiug0  woe,  and  think  of  us 

As  of  a  father :  for  let  the  world  take  note, 

You  are  the  most  immediate0  to  our  throne ; 

And  with  no  less  nobility  of  love  no 

Than  that  which  dearest  father  bears  his  son, 

Do  I  impart0  toward  you.     For  your  intent 

In  going  back  to  school  in  Wittenberg,0 

It  is  most  retrograde0  to  our  desire ; 

And  we  beseech  you,  bend  you  to  remain  1 1 5 

Here,  in  the  cheer  and  comfort  of  our  eye, 

Our  chiefest  courtier,  cousin,  and  our  son. 

Queen.    Let     not    thy    mother    lose    her    prayers, 
Hamlet  : 
I  pray  thee,  stay  with  us ;  go  not  to  Wittenberg. 

Hamlet.    I  shall  in  all  my  best  obey  you,  madam.  120 
King.    Why,  'tis  a  loving  and  a  fair  repty  : 
Be  as  ourself  in  Denmark.  —  Madam,  come. 
This  gentle  and  unforc'd  accord  of  Hamlet 
Sits  smiling  to  my  heart ;  in  grace  whereof,0 


16  HAMLET  [Act  L 

No  jocund  health  that  Denmark  drinks  to-day,  125 

But  the  great  cannon  to  the  clouds  shall  tell, 
And  the  king's  rouse0  the  heavens  shall  bruit0  again, 
Respeaking  earthly  thunder.     Come  away. 

[Exeunt  all  but  Hamlet. 
Hamlet.   0,  that  this  too  too  solid  flesh  would  melt, 
Thaw,  and  resolve  itself  into  a  dew  !  130 

Or  that  the  Everlasting  had  not  fix'd 
His  canon0 'gainst  self-slaughter !     0  God!  0  God  ! 
How  weary,  stale,  flat  and  unprofitable 
Seem  to  me  all  the  uses0  of  this  world ! 
Fie  on't !  0  fie!     'Tis  an  un weeded  garden,  135 

That  grows  to  seed ;  things  rank  and  gross  in  nature 
Possess  it  merely.0     That  it  should  come  to  this  ! 
But  two  months  dead  ;  nay,  not  so  much,  not  two: 
80  excellent  a  king ;  that  was,  to°  this, 
i  I  yperion0  to  a  satyr ;  so  loving  to  my  mother  140 

That  he  might  not  beteem0  the  winds  of  heaven 
Visit  her  face  too  roughly.     Heaven  and  earth! 
Must  I  remember  ?     Why,  she  would  hang  on  him, 
As  if  increase  of  appetite  had  grown 
By  what  it  fed  on  :  and  yet,  within  a  month —         145 
Let    me     not     think    on't  —  Frailty,     thy    name    is 

woman  !  — 
A  little  month,  or  ere°  those  shoes  were  old 


scene  2]  HAMLET  17 

With  which  she  follow'd  my  poor  father's  body, 
Like  Niobe,  all  tears :  why  she,  even  she  — 
0  Heaven!  a  beast,  that  wants  discourse  of  reason,0  150 
Would    have    mourn'd    longer  —  married    with    mine 

uncle, 
My  father's  brother,  but  no  more  like  my  father 
Than  I  to  Hercules.     Within  a  month  ? 
Ere  yet  the  salt  of  most  unrighteous  tears 
Had  left  the  flushing0  in  her  galled  eyes,  155 

She  married.     O  most  wicked  speed,  to  post 
With  such  dexterity0  to  incestuous'  sheets  ! 
It  is  not  nor  it  cannot0  come  to  good. 
But  break,  my  heart,  for  I  must  hold  my  tongue. 

Enter  Horatio,  Mabcellus,  and  Bernardo 

Horatio.   Hail  to  your  lordship ! 

Hamlet.  I  am  glad  to  see  you  well.  160 

Horatio,  —  or  I  do  forget 'myself, 

Horatio.    The  same,  my  lord,  and  your  poor  servant 
ever. 

Hamlet.   Sir,  my  good  friend  ;  I'll  change0  that  name 
with  you. 
And  what  make  you  from0  Wittenberg,  Horatio  ?  — 
Marcellus?  165 

Marcellus.    My  good  lord  — 


18  HAMLET  [Act  I. 

Hamlet.  I  am  very  glad  to  see  you.  —  [To  Bern  ardo.  ] 
Good  even,  sir.  — 
But  what,  in  faith,  make  you  from  Wittenberg  ? 

Horatio.    A  truant  disposition,  good  my  lord. 

Hamlet.    I  would  not  hear  your  enemy  say  so,        17a 
Nor  shall  you  do  mine  ear  that  violence, 
To  make  it  truster  of  your  own  report 
Against  yourself.     I  know  you  are  no  truant. 
But  what  is  your  affair  in  Elsinore  ? 
We'll  teach  you  to  drink  deep  ere  you  depart.  173 

Horatio.    My   lord,    I   came   to    see    your    father's 
funeral. 

Hamlet.    I    pray   thee,    do   not   mock    me,    fellow- 
student  ; 
I  think  it  was  to  see  my  mother's  wedding. 

Horatio.    Indeed,  my  lord,  it  followed  hard  upon. 

Hamlet.   Thrift,  thrift,  Horatio  !    The  funeral  bak'd 
meats  1S0 

Did  coldly  furnish  forth  the  marriage  tables. 
Would  I  had  met  my  dearest0  foe  in  heaven 
Ere  ever  I  had  seen  that  day,  Horatio ! 
My  father  !  —  methinks  I  see  my  father. 

Horatio.    0  where,  my  lord  ? 

Hamlet.  In  my  mind's  eye,  Horatio.     185 

Horatio.    I  saw  him  once.     He  was  a  goodly  king. 


scene  2]  HAMLET  19 

Hamlet.    He  was  a  man,  take  him  for  all  in  all, 
I  shall  not  look  upon  his  like  again. 

Horatio.    My  lord,  I  think  I  saw  him  yesternight. 

Hamlet.    Saw  ?     Who  ?  190 

Horatio.    My  lord,  the  king  your  father. 

Hamlet.  The  king  my  father  ! 

Horatio.    Season0  your  admiration  for  a  while 
With  an  attent0  ear,  till  I  may  deliver, 
Upon  the  witness  of  these  gentlemen, 
This  marvel  to  you. 

Hamlet.    For  Heaven's  love,  let  me  hear.  195 

Horatio.   Two  nights  together  had  these  gentlemen, 
Marcellus  and  Bernardo,  on  their  watch, 
In  the  dead  vast0  and  middle  of  the  night, 
Been  thus  encounter'd.     A  figure  like  your  father, 
Arm'd  at  all  points  exactly,  cap-a-pe,°  200 

Appears  before  them,  and  with  solemn  march 
Goes  slow  and  stately  by  them.     Thrice  he  walk'd 
By  their  oppress'd  and  fear-surprised  eyes, 
Within  his  truncheon's  length  ;  whilst  they  distill'd0 
Almost  to  jelly  with  the  act°  of  fear,  205 

Stand  dumb  and  speak  not  to  him.     This  to  me 
In  dreadful0  secrecy  impart  they  did, 
And  I  with  them  the  third  night  kept  the  watch ; 
Where,  as  they  had  deliver'd,  both  in  time, 


20  HAMLET  [Act  1 

Form  of  the  thing,  each  word  made  true  and  good,  210 
The  apparition  comes.     I  knew  your  father : 
These  hands  are  not  more  like. 

Hamlet.  But  where  was  this  ? 

Marcellus.    My  lord,  upon  the  platform   where  we 
watch'd. 

Hamlet.   Did  you  not  speak  to  it  ? 

Horatio.  My  lord,  I  did; 

But  answer  made  it  none.     Yet  once  methought        215 
It  lifted  up  it°  head  and  did  address 
Itself  to  motion,  like  as  it  would  speak ; 
But  even  then  the  morning  cock  crew  loud, 
And  at  the  sound  it  shrunk  in  haste  away, 
And  vanish'd  from  our  sight. 

Hamlet.  'Tis  very  strange.     220 

Horatio.   As  I  do  live,  my  honour'd  lord,  'tis  true  ; 
And  we  did  think  it  writ  down  in  our  duty 
To  let  you  know  of  it. 

Hamlet.   Indeed,  indeed,  sirs  —  but  this  troubles  me. 
Hold  you  the  watch  to-night  ? 

Marcellus.}  We  do,  my  lord.    225 

Bernardo.  ) 

Hamlet.   Arm'd,  say  you  ? 

Marcellus.)    .       ,,  ,     , 

,     >  Arm'd,  mv  lord. 
Bernardo.  ) 


scene  2]  HAMLET  21 

Hamlet.   From  top  to  toe  ? 

Marcellus. )  ^  frQm  head  tQ  foQt 

Bernardo.  )  * 

Hamlet.    Then  saw  you  not  his  face  ? 

Horatio.   0,  yes,  my  lord  ;  he  wore  his  beaver0  up.  230 

Hamlet.    What,  look'd  he  frowningly  ? 

Horatio.    A   countenance   more   in   sorrow  than  in 

anger. 
Hamlet.    Pale  or  red  ? 
Horatio.   Nay,  very  pale. 

Hamlet.  And  fix'd  his  eyes  upon  you  ? 

Horatio.    Most  constantly. 

Hamlet.  I  would  I  had  been  there. 

Horatio.    It  would  have  much  amaz'd  you.  236 

Hamlet.    Very  like,0  very  like.     Stay'd  it  long  ? 
Horatio.    While  one  with  moderate  haste  might  tell0 

a  hundred. 

Marcellus.  }  T  . 

^  ,      -  Longer,  longer. 

Bernardo.  ) 

Horatio.   Not  when  I  saw't. 

Hamlet.  His  beard  was  grizzled,  —  no  ? 

Horatio.    It  was,  as  I  have  seen  it  in  his  life,         241 
A  sable  silver'd. 

Hamlet.  I  will  watch  to-night ; 

Perchance  'twill  walk  again. 


22  HAMLET  TAct  1 

Horatio.  I  warrant  it  will. 

Hamlet.    If  it  assume  my  noble  father's  person, 
I'll  speak  to  it,  though  hell  itself  should  gape  245 

And  bid  me  hold  my  peace.     I  pray  you  all, 
If  you  have  hitherto  conceal'd  this  sight, 
Let  it  be  tenable0  in  your  silence  still, 
And  whatsoever  else  shall  hap  to-night, 
Give  it  an  understanding,  but  no  tongue.  250 

I  will  requite  your  loves.     So,  fare  you  well. 
Upon  the  platform,  'twixt  eleven  and  twelve, 
I'll  visit  you. 

All.  Our  duty0  to  your  honour. 

Hamlet.    Your  loves,"  as  mine  to  you.     Farewell. 

[Exeunt  all  but  Hamlet. 
My  father's  spirit  in  arms  !     All  is  not  well ;  255 

I  doubt0  some  foul  play.    Would  the  night  were  come  ! 
Till  then  sit  still,  my  soul.     Foul  deeds  will  rise, 
Though  all  the  earth  o'erwhelm  them,  to  men's  eyes. 

[Exit 

Scene  III.   A  Room  in  the  Castle 

Enter  Laertes  and  Ophelia 

Laertes.   My  necessaries  are  embark'd.     Farewell ; 
And,  sister,  as  the  winds  give  benefit0 


scene  3]  HAMLET  23 

And  convoy  is  assistant,0  do  not  sleep, 
But°  let  me  hear  from  you. 

Ophelia.  Do  you  doubt  that  ? 

Laertes.   For  Hamlet,  and  the  trifling  of  his  favour,  5 
Hold  it  a  fashion  and  a  toy  in  blood0 ; 
A  violet  in  the  youth  of  primy  nature,0 
Forward,  not  permanent,  sweet,  not  lasting, 
The  perfume  and  suppliance  of  a  minute0 ; 
No  more. 

Ophelia.   No  more  but  so  ? 

Laertes.  Think  it  no  more;       10 

For  nature  crescent0  does  not  grow  alone 
In  thews0  and  bulk,  but,  as  this  temple  waxes, 
The  inward  service  of  the  mind  and  soul 
Grows  wide  withal.     Perhaps  he  loves  you  now, 
And  now  no  soil  or  cautel0  doth  besmirch  15 

The  virtue  of  his  will0 :  but  you  must  fear, 
His  greatness  weigh'd,  his  will  is  not  his  own; 
For  he  himself  is  subject  to  his  birth. 
He  may  not,  as  unvalued  persons  do, 
Carve  for  himself ;  for  on  his  choice  depends  2a 

The  safety  and  health  of  the  whole  state ; 
And  therefore  must  his  choice  be  circumscrib'd 
Unto  the  voice  and  yielding  of  that  body 
Whereof  he  is  the  head.     Then  if  he  says  he  loves  you, 


24  HAMLET  [Act  i 

It  fits  your  wisdom  so  far  to  believe  it  25 

As  he  in  his  particular  act0  and  place 

May  give  his  saying  deed ;  which  is  no  further 

Than  the  main  voice  of  Denmark  goes  withal. 

Then  weigh  what  loss  your  honour  may  sustain, 

If  with  too  credent0  ear  you  list  his  songs,  30 

Or  lose  your  heart,  or  your  chaste  treasure  open 

To  his  unmaster'd0  importunity. 

Fear  it,  Ophelia,  fear  it,  my  dear  sister, 

And  keep  within  the  rear  of  your  affection, 

Out  of  the  shot  and  danger  of  desire.  35 

The  chariest0  maid  is  prodigal  enough, 

If  she  unmask  her  beauty  to  the  moon. 

Virtue  itself  scapes  not  calumnious  strokes. 

The  canker0  galls  the  infants  of  the  spring, 

Too  oft  before  their  buttons0  be  disclos'd;  40 

And  in  the  morn  and  liquid  dew  of  youth 

<  'ontagious  blastments  are  most  imminent. 

Be  wary  then.     Best  safety  lies  in  fear : 

Youth  to  itself  rebels,0  though  none  else  near. 

Ophelia.   I  shall  the  effect  of  this  good  lesson  keep  45 
As  watchman  to  my  heart.     But,  good  my  brother, 
Do  not,  as  some  ungracious0  pastors  do, 
Show  me  the  steep  and  thorny  way  to  heaven, 
Whiles,  like  a  puff  d  and  reckless  libertine, 


scene  3]  HAMLET  25 

Himself  the  primrose0  path  of  dalliance  treads,  50 

And  recks  not  his  own  rede.0 

Laertes.  0,  fear  me°  not. 

I  stay  too  long ;  but  here  my  father  comes. 

Enter  Polonius 
1 

A  double0  blessing  is  a  double  grace ; 

Occasion0  smiles  upon  a  second  leave. 

Polonius.    Yet  here,  Laertes!    Aboard,  aboard,  for 

shame !  55 

The  wind  sits  in  the  shoulder  of  your  sail, 
And  you  are  stay'd  for.     There;   my  blessing  with 

thee! 
And  these  few  precepts  in  thy  memory 
See  thou  character.0     Give  thy  thoughts  no  tongue, 
Nor  any  unproportion'd0  thought  his  act.  60 

Be  thou  familiar,  but  by  no  means  vulgar." 
The  friends  thou  hast,  and  their  adoption  tried, 
Grapple  them  to  thy  soul  with  hoops  of  steel ; 
But  do  not  dull0  thy  palm  with  entertainment 
Of  each  new-hatch'd,  unfledg'd  comrade.     Beware      65 
Of  entrance  to  a  quarrel,  but  being  in, 
Bear't  that  the  opposed  may  beware  of  thee. 
Give  every  man  thy  ear,  but  feAv  thy  voice. 
Take  each  man's  censure,0  but  reserve  thy  judgment. 


26  HAMLE'l  [Act  I. 

Costly  thy  habit  as  thy  purse  can  buy,  7c 

But  not  express'd  in  fancy0 ;  rich,  not  gaudy ; 

For  the  apparel  oft  proclaims  the  man, 

And  they  in  France  of  the  best  rank  and  station 

Are  most  select  and  generous,  chief  in  that.0 

Neither  a  borrower  nor  a  lender  be ;  75 

For  loan  oft  loses  both  itself  and  friend, 

And  borrowing  dulls  the  edge  of  husbandry.0 

This  above  all :  to  thine  own  self  be  true, 

And  it  must  follow,  as  the  night  the  day, 

Thou  canst  not  then  be  false  to  any  man.  80 

Farewell.     My  blessing  season0  this  in  thee ! 

Laertes.    Most  humbly  do  I  take  my  leave,  my  lord. 

Polonius.    The  time  invites  you ;  go.     Your  servants 
tend.0 

Laertes.    Farewell,  Ophelia ;  and  remember  well 
What  I  have  said  to  you.  85 

Ophelia.  'Tis  in  my  memory  lock'd, 

And  you  yourself  shall  keep  the  key  of  it. 

Laertes.    Farewell.  [Exit. 

Polonius.    What  is't,  Ophelia,  he  hath  said  to  you? 

Ophelia.   So  please  you,  something  touching  the  Lord 
Hamlet. 

Polonius.    Marry,0  well  bethought.  90 

'Tis  told  me,  he  hath  very  oft  of  late 


scene  3]  HAMLET  27 

Given  private  time  to  you,  and  you  yourself 

Have  of  your  audience  been  most  free  and  bounteous. 

If  it  be  so,  as  so  'tis  put  on  me,° 

And  that  in  way  of  caution,  I  must  tell  you,  95 

You  do  not  understand  yourself  so  clearly 

As  it  behooves  my  daughter,  and  your  honour. 

What  is  between  you  ?     Give  me  up  the  truth. 

Ophelia.    He   hath,    my   lord,   of   late   made   many 
tenders 
Of  his  affection  to  me.  100 

Polonius.    Affection  !  pooh !    You  speak  like  a  green 
girl, 
Unsifted0  in  such  perilous  circumstance. 
Do  you  believe  his  tenders,  as  you  call  them  ? 

Ophelia.    I  do  not  know,  my  lord,  what    I   should 

think. 
Polonius.    Marry,  I'll  teach  you:    think  yourself  a 
baby,  105 

That  you  have  ta'en  these  tenders0  for  true  pay, 
Which  are  not  sterling.    Tender0  yourself  more  dearly ; 
Or  —  not  to  crack  the  wind  of  the  poor  phrase,0 
Running  it  thus  —  you'll  tender  me°  a  fool. 

Ophelia.  My  lord,  he  hath  importun'd  me  with  love  no 
In  honourable  fashion. 

Polonius.    Ay,  fashion  you  may  call  it;  go  to,  go  to. 


28  HAMLET  [Act  I 

Ophelia.   And  hath  given  countenance  to  his  speech, 
my  lord, 
With  almost  all  the  vows  of  heaven. 

Polonius.    Ay,  springes0  to  catch  woodcocks.     I  do 
know,  115 

When  the  blood  burns,  how  prodigal  the  soul 
Gives  the  tongue  vows.     These  blazes,  daughter, 
Giving  more  light  than  heat,  extinct  in  both, 
Even  in  their  promise,  as  it  is  a-making, 
You  must  not  take  for  fire.     From  this  time,  daughter, 
Be  somewhat  scanter  of  your  maiden  presence.  121 

Set  your  entreatments0  at  a  higher  rate 
Than  a  command  to  parley.     For  Lord  Hamlet, 
Believe  so  much  in  him,  that  he  is  young, 
And  with  a  larger  tether  may  he  walk  125 

Than  may  be  given  you.     In  few,  Ophelia, 
Do  not  believe  his  vows ;  for  they  are  brokers,0 
Not  of  that  dye  which  their  investments0  show, 
But  mere  iinplorators0  of  unholy  suits, 
Breathing  like  sanctified  and  pious  bawds,  130 

The  better  to  beguile.     This  is  for  all : 
I  would  not,  in  plain  terms,  from  this  time  forth, 
Have  you  so  slander0  any  moment's  leisure, 
As  to  give  words  or  talk  with  the  Lord  Hamlet. 
Look  to't,  I  charge  you.     Come  your  ways.0  135 

Ophelia.    I  shall  obey,  my  lord.  [Exeunt. 


scene  4]  HAMLET  29 

Scene  IV.     The  Platform 
Enter  Hamlet,  Horatio,  and  Marcellus 

Hamlet.   The  air  bites  shrewdly0 ;  it  is  very  cold. 

Horatio.    It  is  a  nipping  and  an  eager0  air. 

Hamlet.   What  hour  now  ? 

Horatio.  I  think  it  lacks  of  twelve. 

Hamlet.   No,  it  is  struck. 

Horatio.    Indeed  ?     I  heard  it  not.     Then  it  draws 
near  the  season  5 

Wherein  the  spirit  held  his  wont  to  walk. 

[A  flourish  of  trumpets,  and  ordnance  shot  off,  within. 
What  does  this  mean,  my  lord  ? 

Hamlet.    The  king  doth  wake   to-night,   and  takes 
his  rouse,0 
Keeps  wassail,0  and  the  swaggering  up-spring°  reels ; 
And,  as  he  drains  his  draughts  of  Rhenish  down,       ic 
The  kettle-drum  and  trumpet  thus  bray  out 
The  triumph0  of  his  pledge. 

Horatio.  Is  it  a  custom  ? 

>  Hamlet.   Ay,  marry,  is't : 
But  to  my  mind,  though  I  am  native  here 
And  to  the  manner0  born,  it  is  a  custom  15 

More  honour'd  in  the  breach  than  the  observance. 


30  HAMLET  [Act  I 

This  heavy-headed  revel  east  and  west 
Makes  us  traduc'd  and  tax'd0  of  other  nations. 
They  clepe0  us  drunkards,  and  with  swinish  phrase 
Soil  our  addition0 ;  and  indeed  it  takes  20 

From  our  achievements,  though  perform'd  at  height, 
The  pith  and  marrow  of  our  attribute.0 
So,  oft  it  chances  in  particular  men, 
That  for  some  vicious  mole  of  nature0  in  them, 
As,0  in  their  birth  —  wherein  they  are  not  guilty,        25 
Since  nature  cannot  choose  his°  origin  — 
By  the  o'ergrowth  of  some  complexion,0 
Oft  breaking  down  the  pales0  and  forts  of  reason, 
Or  by  some  habit  that  too  much  o'er-leavens 
The  form  of  plausive0  manners,  that  these  men,         30 
Carrying,  I  say,  the  stamp  of  one  defect,0 
Being  nature's  livery,0  or  fortune's  star,  — 
Their  virtues  else  —  be  they  as  pure  as  grace, 
As  infinite  as  man  may  undergo0  — 
Shall  in  the  general  censure  take  corruption  35 

From  that  particular  fault :  the  dram  of  eale0 
Doth  all  the  noble  substance  of  a  doubt0 
To  his  own  scandal.0  , 

Horatio.  Look,  my  lord,  it  comes  ! 


scene  4]  HAMLET  31 

Enter  Ghost 

Hamlet.   Angels  and  ministers  of  grace  defend  us ! 
Be  thou  a  spirit  of  health0,  or  goblin  damn'd,  40 

Bring  with  thee  airs  from  heaven,  or  blasts  from  hell, 
Be  thy  intents  wicked  or  charitable, 
Thou  com'st  in  such  a  questionable0  shape 
That  I  will  speak  to  thee.     I'll  call  thee  Hamlet, 
King,  father :  royal  Dane,  0,  answer  me  !  45 

Let  me  not  burst  in  ignorance ;  but  tell 
Why  thy  canoniz'd0  bones,  hearsed  in  death,0 
Have  burst  their  cerements ;  why  the  sepulchre, 
Wherein  we  saw  thee  quietly  inurn'd,0 
Hath  op'd  his  ponderous  and  marble  jaws,  50 

To  cast  thee  up  again.     What  may  this  mean, 
That  thou,  dead  corse,  again  in  complete  steel 
Revisit'st  thus  the  glimpses  of  the  moon,° 
Making  night  hideous ;  and  we  fools  of  nature0 
So  horridly  to  shake  our  disposition0  55 

With  thoughts  beyond  the  reaches0  of  our  souls  ? 
Say,  why  is  this  ?    Wherefore  ?    What  should  we  do  ? 

[Ghost  beckons  Hamlet. 

Horatio.    It  beckons  you  to  go  away  with  it, 
As  if  it  some  impartment  did  desire 
To  you  alone. 


32  HAMLET  [Act  1 

Marcellus.       Look,  with  what  courteous  action       60 
It  waves  you  to  a  more  removed0  ground. 
But  do  not  go  with  it. 

Horatio.  No,  by  no  means. 

Hamlet.    It  will  not  speak  ;  then  I  will  follow  it. 

Horatio.    Do  not,  my  lord. 

Hamlet.  Why,  what  should0  be  the  fear  ? 

I  do  not  set  my  life  at  a  pin's  fee0 ;  65 

And  for  my  soul,  what  can  it  do  to  that, 
Being  a  thing  immortal  as  itself  ? 
It  waves  me  forth  again.     I'll  follow  it. 

Horatio.    What  if  it  tempt  you  toward  the  flood,  my 
lord, 
Or  to  the  dreadful  summit  of  the  cliff  70 

That  beetles  o'er  his  base  into  the  sea, 
And  there  assume  some  other  horrible  form, 
Which  might  deprive0  your  sovereignty  of  reason0 
And  draw  you  into  madness  ?     Think  of  it. 
The  very  place  puts  toys  of  desperation,0  75 

Without  more  motive,  into  every  brain 
That  looks  so  many  fathoms  to  the  sea 
And  hears  it  roar  beneath. 

Hamlet.  It  waves  me  stilL 

Go  on  ;  I'll  follow  thee. 

Marcellus.    You  shall  not  go,  my  lord. 


scene  5]  HAMLET  33 

Hamlet.  Hold  off  your  hands.  80 

Horatio.    Be  rul'd  :  you  shall  not  go. 

Hamlet.  My  fate  cries  out, 

And  makes  each  petty  artery  in  this  body 
As  hardy  as  the  Neniean0  lion's  nerve.0 
Still  am  I  call'd.     Unhand  me,  gentlemen. 
By  heaven,  I'll  make  a  ghost  of  him  that  lets0  me !    85 
I  say,  away !  —  Go  on :  I'll  follow  thee. 

[Exeunt  Ghost  and  Hamlet. 

Horatio.    He  waxes  desperate  with  imagination. 

Marcellus.    Let's  follow;  'tis  not  fit  thus  to  obey  him 

Horatio.    Have0  after.  To  what  issue  will  this  come  ? 

Marcellus.    Something  is  rotten  in  the  state  of  Den- 
mark. 9° 

Horatio.    Heaven  will  direct  it.° 

Marcellus.  Nay,  let's  follow  him. 

[Exeunt. 

Scene  V.     Another  Part  of  the  Platform 

Enter  Ghost  and  Hamlet 

Hamlet.     Where  wilt  thou  lead  me  ?      Speak.      I'll 

go  no  further. 
Ghost.    Mark  me. 
Hamlet.  I  will. 


34  HAMLET  [Act  I. 

Ghost.  My  hour  is  almost  come, 

When  I  to  sulphurous  and  tormenting  flames0 
Must  render  up  myself. 

Hamlet.  Alas,  poor  ghost ! 

Ghost.    Pity  me  not,  but  lend  thy  serious  hearing    5 
To  what  I  shall  unfold. 

Hamlet.  Speak  ;  I  am  bound  to  hear. 

Ghost.    So  art  thou  to  revenge,  when  thou  shalt  hear. 

Hamlet.   What? 

Ghost.    I  am  thy  father's  spirit, 
Doom'd  for  a  certain  term  to  walk  the  night,  10 

And  for  the  day  confin'd  to  fast0  in  fires, 
Till  the  foul  crimes  done  in  my  days  of  nature 
Are  burnt  and  purg'd  away.     But  that  I  am  forbid 
To  tell  the  secrets  of  my  prison-house, 
I  could  a  tale  unfold  whose  lightest  word  15 

Would  harrow  up  thy  soul,  freeze  thy  young  blood, 
Make  thy  two  eyes,  like  stars,  start  from  their  spheres, 
Thy  knotted  and  combined  locks  to  part 
And  each  particular  hair  to  stand  an0  end- 
Like  quills  upon  the  fretful  porpentine.0  25 
But  this  eternal  blazon0  must  not  be 
To  ears  of  flesh  and  blood.     List,  list,  0,  list! 
If  thou  didst  ever  thy  dear  father  love  — 

Hamlet.    0  God! 


scene  5]  HAMLET  35 

Ghost.    Revenge     his    foul     and     most     unnatural 
murder.  25 

Hamlet.    Murder ! 

Ghost.    Murder  most  foul,  as  in  the  best  it  is, 
But  this  most  foul,  strange  and  unnatural. 

Hamlet.   Haste  me  to  know't,  that  I,  with  wings  as 
swift 
As  meditation  or  the  thoughts  of  love,  30 

May  sweep  to  my  revenge. 

Ghost.  I  find  thee  apt ; 

And  duller  shouldst  thou  be°  than  the  fat  weed 
That  roots  itself  in  ease  on  Lethe  wharf,0 
Woulclst  thou  not  stir  in  this.     Now,  Hamlet,  hear : 
"Tis  given  out  that,  sleeping  in  my  orchard,  35 

A  serpent  stung  me  :  so  the  whole  ear  of  Denmark 
Is  by  a  forged  process0  of  my  death 
Rankly  abus'd.     But  know,  thou  noble  youth, 
The  serpent  that  did  sting  thy  father's  life 
Now  wears  his  crown. 

Hamlet.  0  my  prophetic  soul !  4a 

My  uncle ! 

Ghost.    Ay,  that  incestuous,  that  adulterate0  beast, 
With  witchcraft  of  his  wit,  with  traitorous  gifts  — 
0  wicked  wit  and  gifts,  that  have  the  power 
So  to  seduce!  —  won  to  his  shameful  lust  45 


36  HAMLET  [Act  I 

The  will  of  ury  most  seeming-virtuous  queen. 

0  Hamlet,  what  a  falling-off  was  there ! 
From  me,  whose  love  was  of  that  dignity 
That  it  went  hand  in  hand  even  with  the  vow 

1  made  to  her  in  marriage,  and  to  decline  50 
Upon0  a  wretch  whose  natural  gifts  were  poor 

To  those  of  mine  ! 

But  virtue,0  as  it  never  will  be  mov'd, 

Though  lewdness  court  it  in  a  shape  of  heaven, 

So  lust,  though  to  a  radiant  angel  link'd,  55 

AVill  sate  itself  in  a  celestial  bed, 

And  prey  on  garbage. 

But,  soft0 !     Methinks  I  scent  the  morning  air : 

Brief  let  me  be.     Sleeping  within  my  orchard  — 

My  custom  always  in  the  afternoon  —  6c 

Upon  my  secure0  hour  thy  uncle  stole, 

With  juice  of  cursed  hebenon0  in  a  vial, 

And  in  the  porches  of  my  ears  did  pour 

The  leperous  distilment ;  whose  effect 

Holds  such  an  enmity  with  blood  of  man  65 

That  swift  as  quicksilver  it  courses  through 

The  natural  gates  and  alleys  of  the  body, 

And  with  a  sudden  vigour  it  doth  posset0 

And  curd,  like  eager0  droppings  into  milk, 

The  thin  and  wholesome  blood.     So  did  it  mine,        70 


scene  5]  HAMLET  37 

And  a  most  instant  tetter  bark'd  about,0 
Most  lazar-like,°  with  vile  and  loathsome  crust, 
All  my  smooth  body. 
Thus  was  I,  sleeping,  by  a  brother's  hand 
Of  life,  of  crown,  of  queen,  at  once  dispatch' d,°  75 

Cut  off  even  in  the  blossoms  of  my  sin,° 
Unhousel'd,0  disappointed,0  unanel'd," 
No  reckoning  made,  but  sent  to  my  account 
With  all  my  imperfections  on  my  head. 
0,  horrible  !     0,  horrible !     Most  horrible0  !  80 

If  thou  hast  nature  in  thee,  bear  it  not, 
Let  not  the  royal  bed  of  Denmark  be 
A  couch  for  luxury0  and  damned  incest. 
But,  howsoever  thou  pursuest  this  act, 
Taint  not  thy  mind,  nor  let  thy  soul  contrive  85 

Against  thy  mother  aught.     Leave  her  to  heaven 
And  to  those  thorns  that  in  her  bosom  lodge, 
To  prick  and  sting  her.     Fare  thee  well0  at  once  I 
The  glow-worm  shows  the  matin0  to  be  near, 
And  gins  to  pale  his  uneffectual  fire.  90 

Adieu,  adieu  !     Hamlet,  remember  me.  [Exit. 

Hamlet.    O  all  you  host  of  heaven !     O  earth !     What 
else? 
And  shall  I  couple  hell  ?    0,  fie !    Hold,  hold,  my  heart : 
And  you,  my  sinews,  grow  not  instant  old, 


38  HAMLET  [Act  L 

But  bear  me  stiffly  up.     Remember  thee !  95 

Ay,  thou  poor  ghost,  while  memory  holds  a  seat 

In  this  distracted  globe.0     Remember  thee  ? 

Yea,  from  the  table0  of  my  memory 

I'll  wipe  away  all  trivial  fond°  records, 

All  saws  of  books,  all  forms,  all  pressures0  past,        ioc 

That  youth  and  observation  copied  there ; 

And  thy  commandment  all  alone  shall  live 

Within  the  book  and  volume  of  my  brain, 

Unmix'd  with  baser  matter;  yes,  by  heaven! 

0  most  pernicious  woman  !  *os 

0  villain,  villain,  smiling,  damned  villain ! 
My  tables,0  —  meet  it  is  I  set  it  down, 

That  one  may  smile,  and  smile,  and  be  a  villain ; 
At  least  I'm  sure  it  may  be  so  in  Denmark.     [Writing. 
So,  uncle,  there  you  are.     Now  to  my  word;0  no 

It  is  "  Adieu,  adieu  !     Remember  me." 

1  have  sworn't 

Marcellus.  )  r  „-.  ...,,,,     ,  ,     , 

[  [  Within!  My  lord,  my  lord, — 

Horatio.     )  L  J      J  J 

Marcellus.  [Within]  Lord  Hamlet, — 

Horatio.  [Within]  Heaven  secure  him! 

Hamlet.    So  be  it ! 

Horatio.    [Within']  Hillo,  ho,  ho,  my  lord!  115 

Hamlet.    Hillo,  ho,  ho,  boy  !     Come,  bird,  come.0 


scene  5]  HAMLET  39 

Enter  Horatio  and  Marcellus 

Marcellus.    How  is't,  my  noble  lord  ? 
Horatio.  What  news,  my  lord  ? 

Hamlet.   0,  wonderful ! 

Horatio.  Good  my  lord,  tell  it 

Hamlet.    No ;  you'll  reveal  it. 
Horatio.    Not  1,  my  lord,  by  heaven. 
Marcellus.  Nor  I,  my  lord.  120 

Hamlet.    How  say  you,  then  ?     Would  heart  of  man 
once°  think  it  ? 
But  you'll  be  secret  ? 

MaTdlus]  Ay,  by  heaven,  my  lord. 

Hamlet.    There's  ne'er  a  villain  dwelling  in  all  Den- 
mark 
But  he's  an  arrant  knave. 

Horatio.   There  needs  no  ghost,  my  lord,  come  from 
the  grave  125 

To  tell  us  this. 

Hamlet.  Why,  right ;  you  are  i*  the  right ; 

And  so,  without  more  circumstance0  at  all, 
I  hold  it  fit  that  we  shake  hands  and  part : 
Yon,  as  your  business  and  desire  shall  point  you  ; 
For  every  man  has  business  and  desire,  13a 


40  HAMLET  [Act  1 

Such  as  it  is ;  and  for  mine  own  poor  part, 
Look  you,  I'll  go  pray. 

Horatio.   These  are  but  wild  and  whirling  words,  my 
lord. 

Hamlet.    I'm  sorry  they  offend  you,  heartily ; 
Yes,  faith,  heartily. 

Horatio.  There's  no  offence,  my  lord.  135 

Hamlet.    Yes,  by  Saint  Patrick,  but  there  is,  Horatio, 
And  much  offence0  too.     Touching  this  vision  here, 
It  is  an  honest  ghost,  that  let  me  tell  you. 
For  your  desire  to  know  what  is  between  us, 
O'ermaster't  as  you  may.     And  now,  good  friends,    140 
As  you  are  friends,  scholars  and  soldiers, 
Give  me  one  poor  request. 

Horatio.    What  is't,  my  lord  ?     We  will. 

Hamlet.   Never  make  known  what  you  have  seen  to- 
night. 

Horatio.     )    ,,    ,     ,  .,, 

>  My  lord,  we  will  not. 
Marcellus. ) 

Hamlet.  Nay,  but  swear't. 

Horatio.  In  faith, 

My  lord,  not  I. 

Marcellus.         Nor  I,  my  lord,  in  faith.  146 

Hamlet.    Upon  my  sword.0 

Marcellus.  We  have  sworn,  my  lord,  already. 


scene  5]  HAMLET  41 

Hamlet.    Indeed,  upon  my  sword,  indeed. 

Ghost.    \_Beneath~]  Swear. 

Hamlet.   Ah,  ha,  boy!    say'st  thou  so?      Art  thou 
there,  true-penny0  ?  150 

Come  on  —  you  hear  this  fellow  in  the  cellarage  — 
Consent  to  swear. 

Horatio.  Propose  the  oath,  my  lord. 

Hamlet.   Never  to  speak  of  this  that  you  have  seen. 
Swear  by  my  sword. 

Ghost.    [Beneath]    Swear.  155 

Hamlet.    Hie   et   ubique  ?      Then   we'll    shift    our 
ground. 
Come  hither,  gentlemen, 
And  lay  your  hands  again*  upon  my  sword,  — 
Never  to  speak  of  this  that  you  have  heard, 
Swear  by  my  sword.  160 

Ghost.    [Beneath]    Swear. 

Hamlet.   Well  said,  old  mole!     Canst  work  i'  the 
earth  so  fast  ? 
A  worthy  pioner0  !  —  Once  more  remove,  good  friends. 

Horatio.    O   day   and  night,   but  this  is  wondrous 
strange ! 

Hamlet.   And  therefore  as  a  stranger0  give  it  wel- 
come. 165 
There  are  more  things  in  heaven  and  earth,  Horatio, 


42  HAMLET  [Act  1 

Than  are  dreamt  of  in  your  philosophy. 

But  come : 

Here,  as  before,  never,  so  help  you  mercy, 

How  strange  or  odd  soe'er  I  bear  myself,  17a 

As  I  perchance  hereafter  shall  think  meet 

To  put  an  antic0  disposition  on, 

That  you,  at  such  times  seeing  me,  never  shall, 

With  arms  encumber'd  thus,  or  this  head-shake, 

Or  by  pronouncing  of  some  doubtful  phrase,  175 

As  "  Well,  well,  we  know,"  or  "  We  could,  an  if0  we 

would," 
Or  "  If  we  list  to  speak,"  or  "  There  be,  an  if  they 

might," 
Or  such  ambiguous  giving  out,  to  note 
That  you  know  aught  of  me ;  this  not  to  do, 
So  grace  and  mercy  at  your  most0  need  help  you,      180 
Swear. 

Ghost.    \_Beneath~\    Swear. 

Hamlet.   Rest,  rest,  perturbed  spirit! —  So,  gentle- 
men, 
With  all  my  love  I  do  commend  me  to  you ; 
And  what  so  poor  a  man  as  Hamlet  is 
May  do,  to  express  his  love  and  friending0  to  you,    185 
God  willing,  shall  not  lack.0     Let  us  go  in  together; 
And  still  your  fingers  on  your  lips,  I  pray.  — 


scene  1]  HAMLET  43 

The  time  is  out  of  joint :  0  cursed  spite, 

That  ever  I  was  born  to  set  it  right !  — 

Nay,  come,  let's  go  together.0  [Exeunt.  19c 

ACT   II 

Scene  I.    A  Room  in  the  Castle 
Enter  Polonius  and  Reynaldo 

Polonius.    Give  him  this  money,  and  these  notes, 
Reynaldo. 

Reynaldo.    I  will,  my  lord. 

Polonius.    You   shall0   do   marvellous  wisely;   good 
Reynaldo, 
Before  you  visit  him,  to  make  inquiry 
Of0  his  behaviour. 

Reynaldo.  My  lord,  I  did  intend  it.  5 

Polonius.    Marry,  well  said ;  very  well  said.     Look 
you,  sir, 
Inquire  me°  first  what  Danskers0  are  in  Paris ; 
And  how,  and  who  ;  what  means,  and  where  they  keep, 
What  company,  at  what  expense  ;  and  finding 
By  this  encompassment  and  drift0  of  question  10 

That  they  do  know  my  son,  come  you°  more  nearer0 
Than  your  particular  demands  will  touch  it0 ; 


44  HAMLET  [Act  II 

Take  you,0  as  'twere,  some  distant  knowledge  of  him, 

As  thus;  "  I  know  his  father  and  his  friends, 

And  in  part  him,"  —  do  you  mark  this,  Reynaldo  ?    15 

Reynaldo.    Ay,  very  well,  my  lord. 

Polonius.    "  And  in  part  him.     But,"  you  may  say, 
"  not  well : 
But,  if't  be  he  I  mean,  he's  very  wild ; 
Addicted  so  and  so,"  and  there  put  on  him 
What  forgeries0  you  please ;  marry,  none  so  rank       20 
As  may  dishonour  him,  take  heed  of  that ; 
But,  sir,  such  wanton,  wild  and  usual  slips 
As  are  companions  noted  and  most  known 
To  youth  and  liberty. 

Reynaldo.  As  gaming,  my  lord. 

Polonius.    Ay,  or  drinking,  fencing,  swearing,  quar- 
relling, 25 
Drabbing ;  you  may  go  so  far. 

Reynaldo.    My  lord,  that  would  dishonour  him. 

Polonius.   'Faith,  no ;  as  you  may  season  it  in  the 
charge. 
You  must  not  put  another  scandal  on  him, 
That  he  is  open  to  incontinency  ;  30 

That's  not  my  meaning.     But  breathe0  his  faults  so 

quaintly0 
That  they  may  seem  the  taints0  of  liberty, 


scene  1]  HAMLET  45 

The  flash  and  outbreak  of  a  fiery  mind, 
A  savageness  in  unreclaimed  blood, 
Of  general  assault.0 

Reynaldo.  But,  my  good  lord,  —  35 

Polonius.    Wherefore  should  you  do  this  ? 

Reynaldo.  Ay,  my  lord, 

I  would  know  that. 

Polonius.  Marry,  sir,  here's  my  drift ; 

And,  I  believe,  it  is  a  fetch  of  warrant ;° 
You  laying  these  slight  sullies  on  my  son, 
As  'twere  a  thing  a  little  soil'd  i'  the  working,  40 

Mark  you, 

Your  party  in  converse,0  him  you  would  sound, 
Having  ever  seen  in  the  prenominate0  crimes 
The  youth  you  breathe  of  guilty,  be  assur'd 
He  closes  with  you  in  this  consequence0  :  45 

"  Good  sir,"  or  so,  or  "  friend,"  or  "  gentleman," 
According  to  the  phrase  or  the  addition0 
Of  man  and  country. 

Reynaldo.  Very  good,  my  lord. 

Polonius.  And  then,  sir,  does  he  this  —  he  does  — 
what  was  I  about  to  say  ?  By  the  mass,  I  was  about 
to  say  something.     Where  did  I  leave0  ?  51 

Reynaldo.  At "  closes  in  the  consequence,"  at "  friend 
or  so,"  and  "  gentleman." 


46  HAMLET  [Act  II. 

Polonius.    At    "  closes    in    the    consequence,"    ay, 
marry  ; 
He  closes  thus:  "  I  know  the  gentleman,  55 

I  saw  him  yesterday,  or  t'other  day, 
Or  then,  or  then;  with  such,   or  such;   and,  as  you 

say, 
There  was  he  gaming  ;  there  o'ertook  in's  rouse  ;  ° 
There  falling  out  at  tennis ;  "  or  perchance, 
"  I  saw  him  enter  such  a  house  of  sale,"  6c 

Videlicet,  a  brothel,  or  so  forth. 
See  you  now, 

Your  bait  of  falsehood  takes  this  carp  of  truth  ; 
And  thus  do  we  of  wisdom  and  of  reach,0 
With  windlasses0  and  with  assays  of  bias,0  65 

By  indirections  find  directions  out. 
So,  by  my  former  lecture  and  advice, 
Shall  you  my  son.     You  have  me,°  have  you  not  ? 

Reynaldo.    My  lord,  I  have. 

Polonius.  God  be  wi'  you;  fare  you  well. 

Reynaldo.    Good  my  lord  !  70 

Polonius.    Observe  his  inclination  in  yourself.0 

Reynaldo.    I  shall,  my  lord. 

Polonius.    And  let  him  ply  his  music.0 

Reynaldo.  Well,  my  lord. 

Polonius.    Farewell !  [Exit  Kf.ynaldo. 


scene  1]  HAMLET  47 

Enter-  Ophelia 

How  now,  Ophelia  !     What's  the  matter  ? 

Ophelia.    Alas,  my  lord.     I  have  been  so  affrighted  ! 

Polonius.    With  what,  i'  the  name  of  Heaven  ?        76 

Ophelia.    My  lord,  as  I  was  sewing  in  my  closet,0 
Lord  Hamlet,  with  his  doublet  all  unbrac'd0; 
No  hat  upon  his  head  ;  his  stockings  foul'd, 
Ungarter'd,  and  down-gyved°  to  his  ancle ;  80 

Pale  as  his  shirt;  his  knees  knocking  each  other; 
And  with  a  look  so  piteous  in  purport 
As  if  he  had  been  loosed  out  of  hell 
To  speak  of  horrors,  —  he  comes  before  me. 

Polon  ins.    Mad  for  thy  love  ? 

Ophelia.  My  lord,  I  do  not  know, 

But  truly,  I  do  fear  it. 

Polonius.  What  said  he  ?  86 

Ophelia.   He   took  me   by  the  wrist,  and   held  me 
hard; 
Then  goes  he  to  the  length  of  all  his  arm, 
And,  with  his  other  hand  thus  o'er  his  brow, 
He  falls  to  such  perusal  of  my  face  90 

As  he  would  draw  it.     Long  stay'd  he  so. 
At  last,  a  little  shaking  of  mine  arm, 
And  thrice  his  head,  thus,  waving  up  and  down, 


48  HAMLET  [Act  IL 

He  rais'd  a  sigh  so  piteous  and  profound 

That  it  did  seem  to  shatter  all  his  bulk  95 

And  end  his  being.     That  done,  he  lets  me  go, 

And,  with  his  head  over  his  shoulder  turn'd, 

He  seem'd  to  find  his  way  without  his  eyes; 

For  out  o'  doors  he  went  without  their  help, 

And,  to  the  last,  bended  their  light  on  me.  ioo 

Polonius.    Come,  go  with  me.     I  will  go  seek  the 
king. 
This  is  the  very  ecstasy0  of  love, 
Whose  violent  property0  fordoes0  itself 
And  leads  the  will  to  desperate  undertakings 
As  oft  as  any  passion  under  heaven  105 

That  does  afflict  our  natures.     I  am  sorry. 
What,  have  you  given  him  any  hard  words  of  late  ? 

Ophelia.   No,  my  good  lord,  but,  as  you  did  com- 
mand, 
I  did  repel  his  letters0  and  denied 
His  access  to  me. 

Polonius.  That  hath  made  him  mad.  no 

I  am  sorry  that  with  better  heed  and  judgment 
I  had  not  quoted0  him.     I  fear'd  he  did  but  trifle, 
And  meant  to  wrack0  thee  ;  but  beshrew  my  jealousy0! 
I  'y  heaven,  it  is  as  proper  to  our  age 
To  cast  beyond  ourselves0  in  our  opinions  115 


scene  2]  HAMLET  49 

As  it  is  common  for  the  younger  sort 

To  lack  discretion.     Come,  go  we  to  the  king : 

This  must  be  known ;  which,  being  kept  close,  might 

move 
More  grief  to  hide0  than  hate  to  utter0  love.     [Exeunt. 

Scene  II.     A  Room  in  the  Castle 

Enter  King,  Queen,  Rosencrantz,   Guildenstern, 

mid  Attendants 

King.  Welcome,  dear  Rosencrantz  and  Guildenstern0 ! 
Moreover  that0  we  much  did  long  to  see  you, 
The  need  we  have  to  use  you  did  provoke 
Our  hasty  sending.     Something  have  you  heard 
Of  Hamlet's  transformation  ;  so  I  call  it,  5 

Sith°  nor  the  exterior  nor  the  inward  man 
Resembles  that  it  was.     What  it  should  be,° 
More  than  his  father's  death,  that  thus  hath  put  him 
So  much  from  the  understanding  of  himself, 
I  cannot  dream  of.     I  entreat  you  both,  10 

That,  being  of  so  young  days  brought  up  with  him, 
And  since  so  neighbour'd  to°  his  youth  and  humour, 
That  you  vouchsafe  your  rest0  here  in  our  court 
Some  little  time  :  so  by  your  companies0 


o 


50  HAMLET  [Act  II 

To  draw  him  on  to  pleasures,  and  to  gather,  15 

So  much  as  from  occasion  you  may  glean, 
Whether  aught,  to  us  unknown,  afflicts  him  thus, 
That,  open'd,°  lies  within  our  remedy. 

Queen.   Good  gentlemen,  he  hath  much  talk'd  of  you, 
And  sure  I  am  two  men  there  are  not  living  20 

To  whom  he  more  adheres.     If  it  will  please  you 
To  show  us  so  much  gentry0  and  good  will 
As  to  expend  your  time  with  us  awhile, 
For  the  supply  and  profit0  of  our  hope, 
Your  visitation0  shall  receive  such  thanks  25 

As  fits  a  king's  remembrance. 

Rosencrantz.  Both  your  majesties 

Might,  by  the  sovereign  power  you  have  of  us,° 
l'ut  your  dread  pleasures  more  into  command 
Than  to  entreaty. 

Guildenstern.         But  we  both  obey, 
And  here  give  up  ourselves,  111  the  full  bent°  30 

To  lay  our  service  freely  at  your  feet, 
To  be  commanded. 

King.    Thanks,   Rosencrantz    and    gentle    Guilden- 
stern. 

Queen.    Thanks,    Guildenstern    and   gentle    Rosen- 
crantz ; 
And  I  beseech  you  instantly  to  visit  35 


scene  2]  HAMLET  51 

My  too  much  changed  son.     Go,  some  of  you, 
And  bring  these  gentlemen  where  Hamlet  is. 

Guildenstern.    Heavens  make  our  presence  and  our 
practices 
Pleasant  and  helpful  to  him  ! 

Queen.  Ay,  amen  ! 

[Exeunt    Rosencrantz,     Guildenstern,    and    some 
(  Attendants.] 

Enter  Polonius 

Polonius.    The  ambassadors  from  Norway,  my  good 
lord,  4° 

Are  joyfully  return 'd. 

King.    Thou  still0  hast  been  the  father  of  good  news. 

Polonius.    Have  I,  my  lord  ?   Assure  you,°  my  good 
liege, 
I  hold  my  duty,  as  I  hold  my  soul, 
Both  to  my  God  and  to  my  gracious  king;  4  3 

And  I  do  think,  or  else  this  brain  of  mine 
Hunts  not  the  trail0  of  policy  so  sure 
As  it  hath  us'd  to  do,  that  I  have  found 
The  very  cause  of  Hamlet's  lunacy. 

King.    0,  speak  of  that ;  that  do  I  long  to  hear.      50 

Polonius.    Give  first  admittance  to  the  ambassadors; 
My  news  shall  be  the  fruit0  to  that  great  feast. 


52  HAMLET  [Act  n 

King.   Thyself  do  grace  to  them,  and  bring  them  in. 

[Exit  Polonius. 
He  tells  me,  my  sweet  Queen,  that  he  hath  found 
The  head  and  source  of  all  your  son's  distemper.        55 

Queen.    I  doubt0  it  is  no  other  but  the  main, — 
His  father's  death,  and  our  o'erhasty  marriage. 

King.    Well,  we  shall  sift  him. 

Reenter  Polonius,  with  Voltimand  and  Cornelius 

Welcome,  my  good  friends ! 
Say,  Voltimand.  what  from  our  brother  Norway  ? 
Voltimand.    Most    fair    return    of     greetings     and 
desires.0  6o 

Upon  our  first,  he  sent  out  to  suppress 
His  nephew's  levies ;  which  to  him  appear'd 
To  be  a  preparation  'gainst  the  Polack  ; 
But,  better  look'd  into,  he  truly  found0 
It  was  against  your  highness:  whereat  grieved,  65 

That  so  his  sickness,  age  and  impotence 
Was  falsely  borne  in  hand,0  sends  out  arrests 
( )n  Fortinbras ;  which  he,  in  brief,  obeys  ; 
Receives  rebuke  from  Norway,  and  in  fine 
Makes  vow  before  his  uncle  never  more  7° 

To  give  th'  assay0  of  arms  against  your  majesty. 
Whereon  old  Norway,  overcome  with  joy, 


scene  2]  HAMLET  53 

Gives  him  three  thousand  crowns  in  annual  fee, 
And  his  commission  to  employ  those  soldiers, 
So  levi'd  as  before,  against  the  Polack  ;  75 

With  an  entreaty,  herein  further  shown, 

[  Giving  a  paper. 
That  it  might  please  you  to  give  quiet  pass 
Through  your  dominions  for  this  enterprise, 
On  such  regards  of  safety  and  allowance 
As  therein  are  set  down. 

King.  It  likes  us  well ;  80 

And  at  our  more  consider'd0  time  we'll  read, 
Answer,  and  think  upon  this  business. 
Meantime  we  thank  you  for  your  well-took  labour. 
Go  to  your  rest ;  at  night  we'll  feast  together. 
Most  welcome  home  ! 

[Exeunt  Voltimand  and  Cornelius. 

Polonius.  This  business  is  well  ended.  85 

My  liege,  and  madam,  to  expostulate0 
What  majesty  should  be,  what  duty  is, 
Why  day  is  clay,  night  night,  and  time  is  time, 
Were  nothing  but  to  waste  night,  day  and  time. 
Therefore,  since  brevity  is  the  soul  of  wit,0  90 

And  tediousness  the  limbs  and  outward  nourishes, 
I  will  be  brief :  your  noble  son  is  mad ;  — 
Mad  call  1  it;  for,  to  define  true  madness, 


54  HAMLET  [Act  II 

What  is't  but  to  be  nothing  else  but  mad  ? 
But  let  that  go. 

Queen.  More  matter,  with  less  art.  95 

Polonius.    Madam,  I  swear  I  use  no  art  at  all. 
That  he  is  mad,  'tis  true  ;  'tis  true  'tis  pity, 
And  pity  'tis  'tis  true  :  a  foolish  figure  ; 
But  farewell  it,  for  1  will  use  no  art. 
Mad  let  us  grant  him,  then ;  and  now  remains  ioa 

That  we  find  out  the  cause  of  this  effect, 
Or  rather  say,  the  cause  of  this  defect, 
For  this  effect  defective  comes  by  cause. 
Thus  it  remains,  and  the  remainder  thus, 
Perpend0:  105 

I  have  a  daughter  —  have  while  she  is  mine  — 
Who,  in  her  duty  and  obedience,  mark, 
Hath  given  me  this  :    now  gather,  and  surmise. 

[Reads. 

"  To  the  celestial  and  my  soul's  idol,  the  most  beautified0 
Ophelia," —  no 

That's  an  ill  phrase,  a  vile  phrase;  "beautified"  is  a 
vile  phrase  :  but  you  shall  hear.     Thus:  [Reads. 

"  In  her  excellent  white  bosom,0  these,  etc:'' 

Queen.   Came  this  from  Hamlet  to  her  ? 

Polonius.    Good    madam,    stay    awhile;    I    will    be 
faithful.  [Reads.     115 


scene  2]  HAMLET  55 

"  Doubt  thou0  the  stars  are  fire  ; 
Doubt  that  the  sun  doth  move; 
Doubt  truth  to  be  a  liar; 

But  never  doubt  I  love.  119 

"  0  dear  Ophelia,  I  am  ill  at  these  numbers.  I  have 
not  art  to  reckon  my  groans.  But  that  I  love  thee  best, 
O  most  best,  believe  it.     Adieu. 

"  Thine  evermore,  most  dear  lady,  whilst  this 
machine  is  to  him,0  Hamlet." 

This,  in  obedience,  hath  my  daughter  show'd  me,    125 
And  more  above,0  hath  his  solicitings, 
As  they  fell  out  by  time,  by  means  and  place, 
All  given  to  mine  ear. 

King.  But  how  hath  she 

Receiv'd  his  love  ? 

Polonius.  What  do  you  think  of  me  ? 

King.   As  of  a  man  faithful  and  honourable.  130 

Polonius.    I  would  fain  prove  so.     But  what  might 
you  think, 
When  I  had  seen  this  hot  love  on  the  wing  — 
As  I  perceiv'd  it,  I  must  tell  you  that, 
Before  my  daughter  told  me  —  what  might  you, 
Or  my  dear  majesty  your  Queen  here,  think,  135 

If  I  had  play'd  the  desk0  or  table-book, 
Or  given  my  heart  a  winking,0  mute  and  dumb, 


56  HAMLET  [Act  II 

Or  look'd  upon  this  love  with  idle  sight,  — 

What   might    you   think  ?      No,   I    went    round0   to 

work, 
And  my  young  mistress  thus  I  did  bespeak.0  140 

"  Lord  Hamlet  is  a  prince,  out  of  thy  star.0 
This  must  not  be."     And  then  I  precepts  gave  her, 
That  she  should  lock  herself  from  his  resort, 
Admit  no  messengers,  receive  no  tokens. 
Which  done,  she  took  the  fruits  of0  my  advice ;        145 
And  he,  repulsed  —  a  short  tale  to  make  — 
Fell  into  sadness,  then  into  a  fast, 
Thence  to  a  watch,0  thence  into  a  weakness, 
Thence  to  a  lightness,0  and,  by  this  declension, 
Into  the  madness  wherein  now  he  raves,  150 

And  all  we  mourn  for.° 

King.  Do  you  think  'tis  this  ? 

Queen.    It  may  be,  very  likely. 

Polonius.    Hath  there  been   such  a  time  —  I'd  fain 
know  that  — 
That  I  have  positively  said  "  Tis  so," 
When  it  prov'd  otherwise  ? 

King.  Not  that  I  know. 

Polonius.     [Pointing  to  his  head  and  shoulder]    Take 
this  from  this,  if  this  be  otherwise.  156 

If  circumstances  lead  me,  I  will  find 


scene  2]  HAMLET  57 

Where  truth  is  hid,  though  it  were  hid  indeed 
Within  the  centre.0 

King.  How  may  we  try  it  further  ? 

Polonius.    You  know,  sometimes  he  walks  four  hours0 
together  160 

Here  in  the  lobby. 

Queen.  So  he  does  indeed. 

Polonius.   At  such  a  time  I'll  loose  my  daughter  to 
him. 
Be  you  and  I  behind  an  arras0  then ; 
Mark  the  encounter.    If  he  love  her  not 
And  be  not  from  his  reason  fall'n  thereon,  165 

Let  me  be  no  assistant  for  a  state, 
But  keep  a  farm  and  carters. 

King.  We  will  try  it. 

Queen.    But,   look,    where    sadly   the   poor  wretch0 
comes  reading. 

Polonius.  Away,  I  do  beseech  you,  both  away. 
I'll  board0  him  presently. 

[Exeunt  King,  Queen,  and  Attendants. 

Enter  Hamlet,  reading 

O,  give  me  leave :  17a 

How  does  my  good  Lord  Hamlet  ? 
Hamlet.    Well,  God-a-mercy. 


58  HAMLET  [Act  IL 

Polonius.    Do  you  know  me,  ray  lord  ? 

Hamlet.    Excellent  well ;  you  are  a  fishmonger. 

Polonhcs.    Not  I,  my  lord.  175 

Hamlet.    Then  I  would  you  were  so  honest  a  man. 

Polonius.    Honest,  ray  lord  ? 

Hamlet.  Ay,  sir.  To  be  honest,  as  this  world  goes, 
is  to  be  one  man  picked  out  of  ten  thousand. 

Polonius.    That's  very  true,  my  lord.  1S0 

Hamlet.  For  if  the  sun  breed  maggots  in  a  dead  dog, 
being  a  good  kissing  carrion,0  —  Have  you  a  daughter  ? 

Polonius.    I  have,  ray  lord. 

Hamlet.  Let  her  not  walk  i'  the  sun.  Conception0 
is  a  blessing,  but  not  as  your  daughter  may  conceive. 
Friend,  look  to't.  186 

Polonius.  [Aside]  How  say0  you  by  that?  Still 
harping  on  ray  daughter.  Yet  he  knew  me  not  at 
first ;  he  said  I  was  a  fishmonger.  He  is  far  gone,  far 
gone.  And  truly  in  my  youth  I  suffered  much  ex- 
tremity for  love;  very  near  this.  I'll  speak  to  him 
again.     What  do  you  read,  my  lord  ? 

Hamlet.    Words,  words,  words. 

Polonius.    What  is  the  matter,  my  lord  ? 

Hamlet.    Between  who0?  195 

Polonius.  I  mean,  the  matter  that  you  read,  my 
lord. 


scene  2]  HAMLET  59 

Hamlet.  Slanders,  sir;  for  the  satirical  rogue  says 
here  that  old  men  have  grey  beards,  that  their  faces 
are  wrinkled,  their  eyes  purging0  thick  amber  or  plum- 
tree  gum,  and  that  they  have  a  plentiful  lack  of  wit, 
together  with  most  weak  hams :  all  which,  sir,  though 
I  most  powerfully  and  potently  believe,  yet  I  hold  it 
not  honesty  to  have  it  thus  set  down ;  for  yourself, 
sir,  should0  be  old  as  I  am,  if  like  a  crab  you  could  go 
backward.  205 

Polonius.  \_Aside~]  Though  this  be  madness,  yet 
there  is  method  in't.  —  Will  you  walk  out  of  the  air, 
my  lord  ? 

Hamlet.    Into  my  grave. 

Polonius.  Indeed,  that  is  out  o'  the  air.  \Aside~] 
How  pregnant0  sometimes  his  replies  are  !  A  happi- 
ness0 that  often  madness  hits  on,  which  reason  and 
sanity  could  not  so  prosperously  be  delivered  of.  I 
will  leave  him,  and  suddenly  contrive  the  means  of 
meeting  between  him  and  my  daughter.  —  My  honour- 
able lord,  I  will  most  humbly  take  my  leave  of  you. 

Hamlet.  You  cannot,  sir,  take  from  me  any  thing 
that  I  will  more  willingly  part  withal0 ;  except  my 
life,  except  my  life,  except  my  life.  2ig 

Polonius.    Fare  you  well,  my  lord. 

Hamlet.   These  tedious  old  fools  ! 


60  HAMLET  [Act  TL 

Enter  Rosencrantz  and  Guildenstern 

Polonius.  You  go  to  seek  the  Lord  Hamlet;  there 
he  is. 

Rosencrantz.    [To  Polonius]  God  save  you,  sir! 

[Exit  Polonius. 

Guildenstern.    My  honoured  lord  !  225 

Rosencrantz.    My  most  dear  lord  ! 

Hamlet.  My  excellent  good  friends !  How  dost 
thou,  Guildenstern?  —  Ah,  Rosencrantz!  Good  lads, 
how  do  ye  both  ? 

Rosencrantz.  As  the  indifferent0  children  of  the 
earth.  231 

Guildenstern.  Happy,  in  that  we  are  not  over-happy  ; 
On  fortune's  cap  we  are  not  the  very  button. 

Hamlet.   Nor  the  soles  of  her  shoe? 

Rosencrantz.    Neither,  my  lord.  235 

Hamlet.  Then  you  live  about  her  waist,  or  in  the 
middle  of  her  favours  ?     NYhat's  the  news  ? 

Rosencrantz.  None,  my  lord,  but  that  the  world's 
grown  honest.  239 

Hamlet.  Then  is  doomsday  near.  But  your  news  is 
not  true.  Let  me  question  more  in  particular :  what 
have  you,  my  good  friends,  deserved  at  the  hands  of 
fortune,  that  she  sends  you  to  prison  hither? 


scene  2]  HAMLET  61 

Guildenstern.    Prison,  my  lord! 

Hamlet.    Denmark's  a  prison.  245 

Iiosencrantz.    Then  is  the  world  one. 

Hamlet.  A  goodly  one ;  in  which  there  are  many 
confines,0  wards  and  dungeons,  Denmark  being  one  o' 
the  worst. 

Mosencrantz.   We  think  not  so,  my  lord.  250 

Hamlet.  Why,  then,  'tis  none  to  yon ;  for  there  is 
nothing  either  good  or  bad,  but  thinking  makes  it  so. 
To  me  it  is  a  prison. 

Rosencranlz.  Why  then,  your  ambition  makes  it 
one;  'tis  too  narrow  for  your  mind.  255 

Hamlet.  O  God,  I  could  be  bounded  in  a  nut-shell 
and  count  myself  a  king  of  infinite  space,  were  it  not 
that  I  have  bad  dreams. 

Guildenstern.  Which  dreams  indeed  are  ambition, 
for  the  very  substance0  of  the  ambitious  is  merely  the 
shadow  of  a  dream.  261 

Hamlet.    A  dream  itself  is  but  a  shadow.0 

Rosencrantz.  Truly,  and  I  hold  ambition  of  so  airy 
and  light  a  quality  that  it  is  but  a  shadow's  shadow. 

Hamlet.  Then  are  our  beggars  bodies,  and  our  mon- 
archs  and  outstretched0  heroes  the  beggars'  shadows. 
Shall  we  to  the  court?  for,  by  my  fay,0  I  cannot 
reason.  268 


62  HAMLET  [Act  II. 

Rosencrantz.  }  TXT  ,,, 

_,   ., ,  >  We'll  wait  upon  you. 

Guildenstern.  ) 

Hamlet.  No  such  matter.  I  will  not  sort  you  with 
the  rest  of  my  servants ;  for,  to  speak  to  you  like  an 
honest  man,  I  am  most  dreadfully  attended.0  But, 
in  the  beaten  way0  of  friendship,  what  make  you  at 
Elsinore  ?  274 

Rosencrantz.  To  visit  you,  my  lord ;  no  other 
occasion. 

Hamlet.  Beggar  that  I  am,  I  am  even  poor  in  thanks, 
but  I  thank  you  :  and  sure,  dear  friends,  my  thanks  are 
too  dear  a  halfpenny.  Were  you  not  sent  for?  Is  it 
your  own  inclining  ?  Is  it  a  free  visitation  ?  Come, 
deal  justly  with  me.     Come,  come;  nay,  speak. 

Guildenstern.    What  should  we  say,  my  lord  ?        2S2 

Hamlet.  Why,  any  thing,  but°  to  the  purpose. 
You  were  sent  for ;  and  there  is  a  kind  of  confession 
in  your  looks  which  your  modesties0  have  not  craft 
enough  to  colour.  I  know  the  good  king  and  queen 
have  sent  for  you.  2S7 

Rosencrantz.    To  what  end,  my  lord  ? 

Hamlet.  That  you  must  teach  me.  But  let  me  con- 
jure you,  by  the  rights  of  our  fellowship,  by  the 
consonancy0  of  our  -youth,  by  the  obligation  of  our 
ever-preserved  love,  and  by  what  more  dear  a  better 


scene  2]  HAMLET  63 

proposer  could  charge  you  withal,  be  even  aud  direct 
with  me,  whether  you  were  sent  for,  or  no  ?  294 

Rosencrantz.  [Aside  to  Guildenstern]  What  say  you? 

Hamlet.    [Aside']  Nay,  then,  I  have  an  eye  of  you." 
—  If  you  love  me,  hold  not  off. 

Guildenstern.    My  lord,  we  were  sent  for.  298 

Hamlet.  I  will  tell  you  why ;  so  shall  my  anticipa- 
tion prevent  your  discovery,0  and  your  secrecy  to  the 
king  and  queen  moult  no  feather.  I  have  of  late  — 
but  wherefore  I  know  not — lost  all  my  mirth,  forgone 
all  custom  of  exercises ;  and  indeed  it  goes  so  heavily 
with  my  disposition  that  this  goodly  frame,  the  earth, 
seems  to  me  a  sterile  promontory,  this  most  excellent 
canopy,  the  air,  look  you,  this  brave  o'erhanging  firma- 
ment, this  majestical  roof  fretted0  with  golden  fire, 
why,  it  appears  no  other  thing  to  me  than  a  foul  and 
pestilent  congregation  of  vapours.  What  a  piece  of 
work  is  man !  How  noble  in  reason !  How  infinite  in 
faculty  !  In  form  and  moving  how  express0  and  ad- 
mirable !  In  action  how  like  an  angel !  In  apprehen- 
sion how  like  a  god !  The  beauty  of  the  world !  The 
paragon  of  animals !  And  yet,  to  me,  what  is  this 
quintessence  of  dust  ?  Man  delights  not  me :  no,  nor 
woman  neither,  though  by  your  smiling  you  seem  to 
say  so.  3*7 


64  HAMLET  [Act  II 

Rosencrantz.  My  lord,  there  was  no  such  stuff  in 
my  thoughts. 

Hamlet.  Why  did  you  laugh  then,  when  I  said 
"  Man  delights  not  me  "  ?  321 

Rosencrantz.  To  think,  my  lord,  if  you  delight  not 
in  man,  what  lenten0  entertainment  the  players  shall 
receive  from  you.  We  coted°  them  on  the  way ;  and 
hither  are  they  coming,  to  offer  you  service.  325 

Hamlet.  He  that  plays  the  king  shall  be  welcome ; 
his  majesty  shall  have  tribute  of  me.  The  adventu- 
rous knight  shall  use  his  foil  and  target ;  the  lover  shall 
not  sigh  gratis;  the  humorous  man  shall  end  his  part 
in  peace ;  the  clown  shall  make  those  laugh  whose 
lungs  are  tickle  o'  the  sere0 ;  and  the  lady  shall  say 
her  mind  freely,  or  the  blank  verse  shall  halt  for't. 
What  players  are  they  ?  333 

Rosencrantz.  Even  those  you  were  wont  to  take  de- 
light in  ;  the  tragedians  of  the  city. 

Hamlet.  How  chances  it  they  travel  ?  Their  resi- 
dence, both  in  reputation  and  profit,  was  better  both 
ways.  33S 

Rosencrantz.  I  think  their  inhibition0  comes  by  the 
means  of  the  late  innovation. 

Hamlet.  Do  they  hold  the  same  estimation  they  did 
when  I  was  in  the  city  ?     Are  they  so  followed  ? 


sckne  21  HAMLET  65 

Rosencrantz.   No,  indeed,  they  are  not.  343 

Hamlet.   How  comes  it  ?     Do  they  grow  rusty  ? 

Rosencrantz.  Nay,  their  endeavour  keeps  in  the 
wonted  pace.  But  there  is,  sir,  an  aery°  of  children, 
little  eyases,0  that  cry  out  on  the  top  of  question,0  and 
are  most  tyrannically0  clapped  f or't :  these  are  now  the 
fashion,  and  so  berattle0  the  common  stages0 —  so  they 
call  them  —  that  many  wearing  rapiers  are  afraid  of 
goose-qnills,°  and  dare  scarce  come  thither.  351 

Hamlet.  What,  are  they  children  ?  Who  maintains 
'em  ?  How  are  they  escoted0  ?  Will  they  pursue  the 
quality  no  longer  than  they  can  sing  ?  Will  they  not 
say  afterwards,  if  they  should  grow  themselves  to 
common  players  —  as  it  is  most  like,  if  their  means 
are  no  better  —  their  writers  do  them  wrong,  to  make 
them  exclaim  against  their  own  succession  ?  358 

Rosencrantz.  'Faith,  there  has  been  much  to  do°  on 
both  sides;  and  the  nation  holds  it  no  sin  to  tarre° 
them  to  controversy.  There  was,  for  a  while,  no 
money  bid  for  argument,0  unless  the  poet  and  the 
player  went  to  cuffs  in  the  question.  363 

Hamlet.    Is't  possible  ? 

Gin'ldenstern.  O,  there  has  been  much  throwing  about 
of  brains.0 

Hamlet.   Do  the  boys  carry  it  away0  ? 


66  HAMLET  IAct  IL 

Rosencrantz.  Ay,  that  they  do,  niy  lord ;  Hercules 
and  his  load  too.  369 

Hamlet.  It  is  not  very  strange ;  for  mine  uncle  is 
king  of  Denmark,  and  those  that  would  make  mows0 
at  him  while  my  father  lived,  give  twenty,  forty,  fifty, 
an  hundred  ducats  apiece  for  his  picture  in  little.0 
?Sblood,°  there  is  something  in  this  more  than  natural, 
if  philosophy  could  find  it  out. 

[Flourish  of  trumpets  within. 

Ouildenstern.    There  are  the  players.  376 

Hamlet.  Gentlemen,  you  are  welcome  to  Elsinore. 
Your  hands,  come.  The  appurtenance0  of  welcome  is 
fashion  and  ceremony.  Let  me  comply  with0  you  in 
this  garb,°  lest  my  extent0  to  the  players,  which,  I 
tell  you,  must  show  fairly  outward,  should  more 
appear  like  entertainment  than  yours.  You  are  wel- 
come; but  my  uncle-father  and  aunt-mother  are 
deceived.  384 

Ouildenstern.    In  what,  my  dear  lord  ? 

Hamlet.  I  am  but  mad  north-north-west.  When  the 
winl  is  southerly,  I  know  a  hawk  from  a  handsaw.0 

Enter  Polonius 

Polonius.    Well  be  with  you,  gentlemen !  388 

Hamlet.    Hark  you,  Guildensteru;  and  you  too:  at 


scene  2]  HAMLET  67 

each  ear  a  hearer.     That  great  baby  you  see  there  is 
not  yet  out  of  his  swaddling-clouts. 

Rosencrantz.  Happily0  he's  the  second  time  come 
to  them :  for  they  say  an  old  man  is  twice  a 
child.  394 

Hamlet.  I  will  prophesy  he  comes  to  tell  me  of  the 
players;  mark  it.  —  You  say  right,  sir;  o'  Monday 
morning.     'Twas  so  indeed. 

Polonius.    My  lord,  I  have  news  to  tell  you. 

Hamlet.    My  lord,  I  have  news  to  tell  you. 
When  Roscius0  was  an  actor  in  Rome,  ■ —  400 

Polonius.    The  actors  are  come  hither,  my  lord. 

Hamlet.    Buz,  buz0 ! 

Polonius.    Upon  mine  honour,  — 

Hamlet.    Then  came  each  actor  on  his  ass,° —       404 

Polonius.  The  best  actors  in  the  world,  either  for 
tragedy,  comedy,  history,  pastoral,  pastoral-comical, 
historical-pastoral,  tragical-historical,  tragical-comical- 
historical-pastoral,  scene  individable,0  or  poem  un- 
limited. Seneca0  cannot  be  too  heavy,  nor  Plautus 
too  light.  For  the  law  of  writ  and  the  liberty,  these 
are  the  only  men. 

Hamlet.  0  Jephthah0,  judge  of  Israel,  what  a  treas- 
ure hadst  thou !  4M 

Polonius.    What  a  treasure  had  he,  my  lord  ? 


68  HAMLET  [Act  il 

Hamlet.    Why, 

"  One  fair  daughter,  and  no  more, 
The  which  he  loved  passing  well." 
Polonius.    [Aside-]  Still  on  my  daughter.  418 

Hamlet.    Am  I  not  i'  the  right,  old  Jephthah? 
Polonius.    If  you  call  me  Jephthah,  my  lord,  I  have 
a  daughter  that  I  love  passing  well. 
Hamlet.    Nay,  that  follows  not. 

Polonius.    What  follows,  then,  my  lord?  423 

Hamlet.    Why, 

"  As  by  lot,  God  wot," 
and  then,  you  know, 

"  It  came  to  pass,  as  most  like  it  was"  — 
the  first  row°  of  the  pious  chanson0   will   show  you 
more ;  for  look,  where  my  abridgements0  come.  —    429 

Enter  four  or  Jive  Players 

You  are  welcome,  masters ;  welcome,  all.  I  am  glad 
to  see  thee  well.  Welcome,  good  friends.  0,  my  old 
friend !  Thy  face  is  vaianced0  since  I  saw  thee  last. 
Comest  thou  to  beard  me  in  Denmark  ?  AVI  1  at,  my 
young  lady  and  mistress0!  By'r  lady,  your  ladyship 
is  nearer  to  heaven,  than  when  I  saw  you  last,  by  the 
altitude  of  a  chopine.0  Pray  God,  your  voice,  like  a 
piece  of   uncurrent  gold,  be  not  cracked  within  the 


scene  2]  HAMLET  69 

ring.0  Masters,  you  are  all  welcome.  We'll  e'en  to't 
like  French  falconers,  fly  at  any  thing0  we  see :  we'll 
have  a  speech  straight.  Come,  give  us  a  taste  of  your 
quality0 ;  come,  a  passionate  speech. 

First  Player.     What  speech,  my  lord  ?  442 

Hamlet.  I  heard  thee  speak  me0  a  speech  once,  but 
it  was  never  acted ;  or,  if  it  was,  not  above  once ;  for 
the  play,  I  remember,  pleased  not  the  million :  'twas 
caviare0  to  the  general.  But  it  was  —  as  I  received  it, 
and  others,  whose  judgments  in  such  matters  cried  in 
the  top  of  mine0  —  an  excellent  play,  well  digested  in 
the  scenes,  set  down  with  as  much  modesty  as  cunning. 
I  remember,  one  said  there  were  no  sal  lets0  in  the  lines 
to  make  the  matter  savoury,  nor  no  matter  in  the 
phrase  that  might  indict0  the  author  of  affectation; 
but  called  it  an  honest  method,  as  wholesome  as 
sweet,  and  by  very  much  more  handsome0  than  fine. 
One  speech  in  it  I  chiefly  loved:  'twas  ^Eneas' 
tale  to  Dido;  and  thereabout0  of  it  especially, 
where  he  speaks  of  Priam's  slaughter.  If  it  live 
in  your  memory,  begin  at  this  line :  let  me  see,  let 
me  see, —  459 

The  rugged  Pyrrhus,  like  the  Hyrcanian  beast,0 
—  it  is  not  so :  —  it  begins  with  Pyrrhus  :  — 


70  HAMLET  [Act  II. 

The  rugged  Pyrrhus,  he  whose  sable  arms, 

Black  as  his  purpose,  did  the  night  resemble 

When  he  lay  couched  in  the  ominous  horse, 

Hath  now  this  dread  and  black  complexion  smear'd  465 

With  heraldry  more  dismal.     Head  to  foot 

Now  is  he  total  gules°  ;  horridly  trick'd 

With  blood  of  fathers,  mothers,  daughters,  sons, 

Bak'd  and  impasted0  with  the  parching  streets, 

That  lend  a  tyrannous  and  damned  light  470 

To  their  lord's  murder.     Roasted  in  wrath  and  fire, 

And  thus  o'er-sized°  with  coagulate  gore, 

With  eyes  like  carbuncles,0  the  hellish  Pyrrhus 

Old  grandsire  Priam  seeks. 

So,  proceed  you.  475 

Polonius.    'Fore  God,  my  lord,  well  spoken,   with 
good  accent  and  good  discretion. 

First  Player.  Anon  he  finds  him 

Striking  too  short  at  Greeks.     His  antique  sword, 
Rebellious  to  his  arm,  lies  where  it  falls,  480 

Repugnant  to  command.     Unequal  match'd, 
Pyrrhus  at  Priam  drives ;  in  rage  strikes  wide  ; 
But°  with  the  whiff  and  wind  of  his  fell  sword 
The  unnerv'd  father  falls.     Then  senseless  Ilium, 
Seeming  to  feel  this  blow,  with  flaming  top  485 

Stoops  to  his  base,  and  with  a  hideous  crash 
Takes  prisoner  Pyrrhus'  ear  ;  for,  lo  !  his  sword, 
Which  was  declining  on  the  milky0  head 


scene  2]  HAMLET  71 

Of  reverend  Priam,  seem'd  i'  the  air  to  stick. 

So,  as  a  painted  tyrant,0  Pyrrhus  stood,  490 

And  like  a  neutral  to  his  will  and  matter, 

Did  nothing. 

But,  as  we  often  see,  against  some  storm, 

A  silence  in  the  heavens,  the  rack0  stand  still, 

The  bold  winds  speechless,  and  the  orb  below  495 

As  hush  as  death,  anon  the  dreadful  thunder 

Doth  rend  the  region0  ;  so,  after  Pyrrhus'  pause, 

Aroused  vengeance  sets  him  new  a-work°  ; 

And  never  did  the  Cyclops'  hammers  fall 

On  Mars's  armour,  forg'd  for  proof0  eterne,  500 

With  less  remorse0  than  Pyrrhus'  bleeding  sword 

Now  falls  on  Priam. 

Out,  out,  thou  strumpet,  Fortune  !     All  you  gods, 

In  general  synod,  take  away  her  power  ; 

Break  all  the  spokes  and  fellies  from  her  wheel,  505 

And  bowl  the  round  nave°  down  the  hill  of -heaven, 

As  low  as  to  the  fiends  ! 

Polonius.    This  is  too  long. 

Hamlet.  It  shall  to  the  barber's,  with  your  beard. 
Prithee,  say  on.  —  He's  for  a  jig,0  or  a  tale  of  bawdry, 
or  he  sleeps.  —  Say  on  ;  come  to  Hecuba.  511 

First  Player.   But  who,  0  who  had  seen  the  mobled0  queen— 

Hamlet,   "  The  mobled  queen  "  ? 

Polonius.    That's  good :  "  mobled  queen  "  is  good. 


72  HAMLET  [Act  II. 

First  Player.    Run  barefoot  up  and  down,  threatening  the 
flames  515 

With  bisson  rheum0;  a  clout  upon  that  head 
Where  late  the  diadem  stood,  and  for  a  robe, 
About  her  lank  and  all  o'er-teemed°  loins, 
A  blanket,  in  the  alarm  of  fear  caught  up ; 

Who  this  had  seen,  with  tongue  in  venom  steep'd,  520 

'Gainst  Fortune's  state  would  treason  have  pronounc'd. 
But  if  the  gods  themselves  did  see  her  then 
When  she  saw  Pyrrhus  make  malicious  sport 
In  mincing  with  his  sword  her  husband's  limbs, 
The  instant  burst  of  clamour  that  she  made,  525 

Unless  things  mortal  move  them  not  at  all, 
Would  have  made  milch0  the  burning  eyes  of  heaven, 
And  passion0  in  the  gods. 

Polonius.  Look,  whether  he  has  not  turned  his  colour 
and  has  tears  in's  eyes.  —  Pray  you,  no  more.  530 

Hamlet.  'Tis  well ;  I'll  have  thee  speak  out  the  rest 
soon.  Good  my  lord,  will  you  see  the  players  well 
bestowed0  ?  Do  you  hear,  let  them  be  well  used ;  for 
they  are  the  abstract  and  brief  chronicles0  of  the  time. 
After  your  death,  you  were  better  have  a  bad  epitaph 
than  their  ill  report  while  you  live.  536 

Polonius.  My  lord,  I  will  use  them  according  to 
their  desert. 

Hamlet.  God's  bodykins,0  man,  much  better.  Use 
every  man  after0  his  desert,  and   who  should    scape 


scenb  2]  HAMLET  73 

whipping  ?  Use  them  after  your  own  honour  and  dig- 
nity. The  less  they  deserve,  the  more  merit  is  in  your 
bounty.     Take  them  in.  543 

Polonius.    Come,  sirs. 

Hamlet.    Follow  him,  friends.     We'll  hear  a  play  to- 
morrow.    [Exit  Polonius  with  all  the  Players  but  the 
First.]  —  Dost  thou  hear  me,  old  friend  ?    Can  you  play 
Tlie  Murder  of  Gonzago  ? 
First  Player.    Ay,  my  lord.  549 

Hamlet.    We'll  ha't  to-morrow  night.      You  could, 
for  a  need,  study  a  speech  of  some  dozen  or  sixteen 
lines,  which  I  would  set  down  and  insert  in't,  could 
you  not? 
First  Player.   Ay,  my  lord.  554 

Hamlet.  Very  well.  Follow  that  lord ;  and  look  you 
mock  him  not.  [Exit  First  Player.]  —  My  good 
friends,  I'll  leave  you  till  night.  You  are  welcome  to 
Elsinore. 

Rosencrantz.    Good  my  lord !  559 

Hamlet.   Ay,  so,  God  be  wi'  ye !     [Exeunt  Rosen- 
crantz and  Guildenstern.]     Now  I  am  alone. 
0,  what  a  rogue  and  peasant  slave  am  I ! 
Is  it  not  monstrous  that  this  player  here, 
But  in  a  fiction,  in  a  dream  of  passion, 
Could  force  his  soul  so  to  his  own  conceit0  565 


74  HAMLET  [Act  IL 

That  from  her  working  all  his  visage  wann'd, 

Tears  in  his  eyes,  distraction  in?s  aspect, 

A  broken  voice,  and  his  whole  function0  suiting 

With  forms  to  his  conceit,  and  all  for  nothing! 

For  Hecuba !  57< 

What's  Hecuba  to  him,  or  he  to  Hecuba, 

That  he  should  weep  for  her  ?     What  would  he  do, 

Had  he  the  motive  and  the  cue  for  passion 

That  1  have  ?     He  would  drown  the  stage  with  tears 

And  cleave  the  general  ear  with  horrid  speech,  573 

Make  mad  the  guilty,  and  appal  the  free,0 

Confound  the  ignorant,  and  amaze0  indeed 

The  very  faculties  of  eyes  and  ears. 

Yet  I, 

A  dull  and  muddy-mettled0  rascal,  peak,0  58° 

Like  John-a-dreams,°  unpregnant  of°  my  cause, 

And  can  say  nothing ;  no,  not  for  a  king, 

Upon  whose  property0  and  most  dear  life 

A  damn'd  defeat  was  made.     Am  I  a  coward  ? 

Who  calls  me  villain,  breaks  my  pate  across,  585 

Plucks  off  my  beard,  and  blows  it  in  my  face, 

Tweaks  me  by  the  nose,  gives  me  the  lie  i'  the  throat, 

As  deep  as  to  the  lungs  ?     Who  does  me°  this  ? 

Ha! 

'Swounds,0  I  should  take  it;  for  it  cannot  be  590 


scene  2]  HAMLET  75 

But  1  am  pigeon-liver'd,0  and  lack  gall 

To  make  oppression  bitter,  or  ere  this 

I  should  have  fatted  all  the  region0  kites 

With  this  slave's  offal.     Bloody,  bawdy  villain !        594 

Remorseless,  treacherous,  lecherous,  kindless0  villain ! 

0,  vengeance ! 

Why,  what  an  ass  am  I !     This  is  most  brave, 

That  I,  the  son  of  a  dear  father  murder'd, 

Prompted  to  my  revenge  by  heaven  and  hell, 

Must,  like  a  whore,  unpack  my  heart  with  words,     600 

And  fall  a-cursing,  like  a  very  drab, 

A  scullion ! 

Fie  upon't !     Foh !     About,0  my  brain  !     I  have  heard 

That  guilty  creatures  sitting  at  a  play 

Have  by  the  very  cunning  of  the  scene  605 

Been  struck  so  to  the  soul  that  presently0 

They  have  proclaim'd  their  malefactions; 

For  murder,  though  it  have  no  tongue,  will  speak 

With  most  miraculous  organ.     I'll  have  these  players 

Pla^  something  like  the  murder  of  my  father  61c 

Before  mine  uncle.     I'll  observe  his  looks ; 

I'll  tent°  him  to  the  quick.     If  he  but  blench,0 

I  know  my  course.     The  spirit  that  I  have  seen 

May  be  the  devil ;  and  the  devil  hath  power 

To  assume  a  pleasing  shape ;  yea,  and  perhaps  615 


T6  HAMLET  [Act  III 

Out  of  my  weakness,  and  my  melancholy, 

As  he  is  very  potent  with  such  spirits, 

Abuses0  me  to  damn  me.     I'll  have  grounds 

More  relative0  than  this.     The  play's  the  thing        610 

Wherein  I'll  catch  the  conscience  of  the  king.     [Exit. 


ACT   III 

Scene  I.     A  Room  in  the  Castle 

Enter  King,  Queen,  Polonius,  Ophelia,  Rosencrantz. 
and  Guildenstern 

King.    And  can  you,  by  no  drift  of  circumstance,0 
Get  from  him  why  he  puts  on  this  confusion,0 
Grating0  so  harshly  all  his  days  of  quiet 
With  turbulent  and  dangerous  lunacy  ? 

Rosencrantz.   He  does  confess  he  feels  himself  dis- 
tracted ;  5 
But  from  what  cause  he  will  by  no  means  speak. 

Guildenstern.   Nor  do  we  find  him   forward  to  be 
sounded, 
But  with  a  crafty  madness,0  keeps  aloof, 
When  we  would  bring  him  on  to  some  confession 
Of  his  true  state. 


scene  1]  HAMLET  77 

Queen.  Did  he  receive  you  well  ?  10 

Rosencrantz.    Most  like  a  gentleman. 

Guildenstem.    But   with    much    forcing   of  his  dis- 
position. 

Rosencrantz.   Niggard    of    question,      but,    of    our 
demands, 
Most  free  in  his  reply. 

Queen.  Did  you  assay  him 

To  any  pastime  ?  15 

Rosencrantz.    Madam,  it  so   fell  out,    that    certain 
players 
We   o'er-raught°   on    the    way.      Of    these    we    told 

him  ; 
And  there  did  seem  in  him  a  kind  of  joy 
To  hear  of  it.     They  are  about  the  court, 
And,  as  I  think,  they  have  already  order  20 

This  night  to  play  before  him. 

Polonius.  'Tis  most  true ; 

And  he  beseech'd  me  to  entreat  your  majesties 
To  hear  and  see  the  matter. 

King.    With  all  my  heart;  and  it  doth  much  content 
me 
To  hear  him  so  inclin'd.  25 

Good  gentlemen,  give  him  a  further  edge,0 
And  drive  his  purpose  on  to  these  delights. 


78  HAMLET  (Act  III 

Rosencrantz.    We  shall,  my  lord. 

[Exeunt  .Rosencrantz  and  Guildenstern. 

King.  Sweet  Gertrude,  leave  us  too ; 

For  we  have  closely0  sent  for  Hamlet  hither, 
That  he,  as  'twere  by  accident,  may  here  3c 

Affront0  Ophelia. 

Her  father  and  myself,  lawful  espials,0 
Will  so  bestow  ourselves  that,  seeing,  unseen, 
We  may  of  their  encounter  frankly  judge, 
And  gather  by  him,  as  he  is  behaved,  35 

If  't  be  the  affliction  of  his  love  or  no 
That  thus  he  suffers  for. 

Queen.  I  shall  obey  you, 

And  for  your  part,  Ophelia,  I  do  wish 
That  your  good  beauties  be  the  happy  cause 
Of  Hamlet's  wildness  :  so  shall  I  hope  your  virtues   40 
Will  bring  him  to  his  wonted  way  again, 
To  both  your  honours. 

Ophelia.  Madam,  I  wish  it  may. 

[Exit  Queen. 

Polonius.    Ophelia,  walk   you  here.  —  Gracious,0  so 
please  you, 
We   will   bestow  ourselves.  —  [To   Ophelia]  Read  on 

this  book, 
That  show  of  such  an  exercise  may  colour0  45 


scene  1J  HAMLET  79 

Your  loneliness.     We  are  oft  to  blame  in  this  — 
"Tis  too  much0  prov'd  —  that  with  devotion's  visage, 
And  pious  action,  we  do  sugar  o'er 
The  devil  himself. 

King.    [Aside]        0,  'tis  too  true ! 
How   smart  a   lash  that   speech   doth  give  my  con- 
science !  50 
The  harlot's  cheek,  beauti'd  with  plastering  art, 
Is  not  more  ugly  to  the  thing  that  helps  it 
Than  is  my  deed  to  my  most  painted0  word : 
0  heavy  burthen! 

Polonius.   I  hear  him  coming.     Let's  withdraw,  my 
lord.  55 

[Exeunt  King  and  Polonius. 

Enter  Hamlet 

Hamlet.   To  be,  or  not  to  be,  — that  is  the  question  : 
Whether  'tis  nobler  in  the  mind  to  suffer 
The  slings  and  arrows  of  outrageous  fortune, 
Or  to  take  arms  against  a  sea  of  troubles, 
And  by  opposing  end  them  ?     To  die  ;  to  sleep ;         60 
No  more0;  and  by  a  sleep  to  say  we  end 
The  heart-ache,  and  the  thousand  natural  shocks 
That  flesh  is  heir  to,  'tis  a  consummation 
Devoutly  to  be  wish'd.     To  die ;  to  sleep ; 


80  HAMLET  [Act  m 

To   sleep ;    perchance    to    dream,  —  ay,    there's    the 
rub° ;  6s 

For  in  that  sleep  of  death  what  dreams  may  come, 
When  we  have  shuffled  off  this  mortal  coil,° 
Must  give  us  pause.     There's  the  respect0 
That  makes  calamity  of  so  long  life0; 
For  who  would  bear  the  whips  and  scorns  of  time,0      70 
The  oppressor's  wrong,  the  proud  man's  contumely, 
The  pangs  of  dispris'd  love,  the  law's  delay, 
The  insolence  of  office,  and  the  spurns 
That  patient  merit  of  the  unworthy  takes, 
When  he  himself  might  his  quietus  make  75 

With  a  bare  bodkin0  ?     Who  would  fardels0  bear, 
To  grunt  and  sweat  under  a  weary  life, 
Hut  that  the  dread  of  something  after  death, 
The  undiscover'd  country  from  whose  bourn0 
No  traveller  returns,  puzzles  the  will,  80 

And  makes  us  rather  bear  those  ills  we  have 
Than  fly  to  others  that  we  know  not  of  ? 
Thus  conscience  does  make  cowards  of  us  all ; 
And  thus  the  native  hue°  of  resolution 
Is  sicklied  o'er  with  the  pale  cast  of  thought,0  85 

And  enterprises  of  great  pith  and  moment 
With  this  regard  their  currents  turn  away, 
And  lose  the  name  of  action.  —  Soft  you  now  ! 


scene  1]  HAMLET  81 

The  fair  Ophelia!  — Nymph,  in  thy  orisons0 
Be  all  my  sins  remember'd. 

Ophelia.  Good  my  lord,  90 

How  does  your  honour  for  this  many  a  day  ? 

Hamlet.    I  humbly  thank  you ;  well,  well,  well. 

Ophelia.    My  lord,  I  have  remembrances  of  yours, 
That  I  have  longed  long  to  re-deliver; 
I  pray  you,  now  receive  them. 

Hamlet.  No,  not  I ;  95 

I  never  gave  you  aught. 

Ophelia.    My  honour'd  lord,  I  know  right  well  you 
did, 
And,  with  them,  words  of  so  sweet  breath  compos'd 
As  made  the  things  more  rich.     Their  perfume  lost, 
Take  these  again  ;  for  to  the  noble  mind  100 

Rich  gifts  wax  poor  when  givers  prove  unkind. 
There,  my  lord. 

Hamlet.    Ha,  ha!     Are  you  honest0? 

Ophelia.    My  lord  ? 

Hamlet.    Are  you  fair  ?  105 

Ophelia.   What  means  your  lordship  ? 

Hamlet.    That  if  you  be  honest,  and  fair,  your  hon- 
esty should  admit  no  discourse  to  your  beauty.0 

Ophelia.    Could   beauty,   my  lord,  have  better  com- 
merce0 than  with  honesty?  no 


82  HAMLET  [Act  III 

Hamlet.  Ay,  truly;  for  the  power  of  beauty  wih 
sooner  transform  honesty  from  what  it  is  to  a  bawd 
than  the  force  of  honesty  can  translate  beauty  into  his 
likeness.  This  was  sometime  a  paradox,  but  now  the 
time  gives  it  proof.     I  did  love  you  once.  115 

Ophelia.    Indeed,  my  lord,  you  made  me  belie  se  so. 

Hamlet.  You  should  not  have  believed  me;  for 
virtue  cannot  so  inoculate  our  old  stock  but  we  shall 
relish0  of  it.     I  loved  you  not. 

Ophelia.    I  was  the  more  deceived.  120 

Hamlet.  Get  thee  to  a  nunnery.  Why  wouldst 
thou  be  a  breeder  of  sinners  ?  I  am  myself  indiffer- 
ent0 honest ;  but  yet  I  could  accuse  me  of  such  things 
that  it  were  better  my  mother  had  not  borne  me.  I 
am  very  proud,  revengeful,  ambitious,  with  more 
offences  at  my  beck°  than  I  have  thoughts  to  put  them 
in,  imagination  to  give  them  shape,  or  time  to  act 
them  in.  What  should  such  fellows  as  I  do  crawling 
between  earth  and  heaven  ?  We  are  arrant  knaves, 
;ill ;  believe  none  of  us.  Go  thy  ways  to  a  nunnery. 
Where's  your  father?  131 

Ophelia.    At  home,  my  lord. 

Hamlet.  Let  the  doors  be  shut  upon  him,  that  he 
may  play  the  fool  no  where  but  in's  own  house.0 
Farewell.  '35 


scene  1]  HAMLET  83 

Ojihelia.    0,  help  him,  you  sweet  heavens ! 

Hamlet.  If  thou  dost  marry,  I'll  give  thee  this 
plague  for  thy  dowry :  be  thou  as  chaste  as  ice,  as 
pure  as  snow,  thou  shalt  not  escape  calumny.  Get 
thee  to  a  nunnery,  go.  Farewell.  Or,  if  thou  wilt 
needs  marry,  marry  a  fool ;  for  wise  men  know  well 
enough  what  monsters0  you  make  of  them.  To  a  nun- 
nery, go,  and  quickly  too.     Farewell.  143 

Ophelia.    0  heavenly  powers,  restore  him ! 

Hamlet.  I  have  heard  of  your  paintings  too,  wrell 
enough.  God  has  given  you  one  face,  and  you  make 
yourselves  another.  You  jig,°  you  amble,  and  you 
lisp,  and  nickname0  God's  creatures,  and  make  your 
wantonness  your  ignorance.0  Go  to,  I'll  no  more  on't ; 
it  hath  made  me  mad.  I  say,  we  will  have  no  more 
marriages.  Those  that  are  married  already,  all  but 
one,  shall  live.  The  rest  shall  keep  as  they  are.  To 
a  nunnery,  go.  [Exit. 

Ophelia.    0,  what  a  noble  mind  is  here  o'erthrown ! 
The  courtier's,  soldier's,  scholar's,  eye,  tongue,  sword ; 
The  expectancy  and  rose0  of  the  fair  state,  156 

The  glass  of  fashion0  and  the  mould0  of  form, 
The  observ'd  of  all  observers,  quite,  quite  down ! 
And  I,  of  ladies  most  deject  and  wretched, 
That  suck'd  the  honey  of  his  music  vows,  160 


84  HAMLET  [Act  III 

Now  see  that  noble  and  most  sovereign  reason, 
Like  sweet  bells  jangled,  out  of  tune  and  harsh ; 
That  unmatch'd  form  and  feature0  of  blown  youth 
Blasted  with  ecstasy.0     0,  woe  is  me, 
To  have  seen  what  I  have  seen,  see  what  I  see !         165 

Reenter  King  and  Poloistius 

King.    Love  ?     His  affections  do  not  that  way  tend ; 
Nor  what  he  spake,  though  it  lack'd  form  a  little, 
Was    not°  like    madness.     There's    something   in   his 

soul, 
O'er  which  his  melancholy  sits  on  brood; 
And  I  do  doubt0  the  hatch  and  the  disclose  170 

Will  be  some  danger:  which  for  to  prevent, 
L  have  in  quick  determination 
Thus  set  it  down :  he  shall  with  speed  to  England, 
For  the  demand  of  our  neglected  tribute. 
Haply  the  seas  and  countries  different  175 

With  variable  objects  shall  expel 
This  something-settled  matter  in  his  heart, 
Wherron  his  brains  still  beating  puts0  him  thus 
From  fashion  of  himself.0     What  think  you  on't  ? 

Polo  in  us.    It  shall  do  well.     But  yet  do  I  believe 
The  origin  and  commencement  of  his  grief0  181 

Sprung  from  neglected  love.  —  How  now,  Ophelia! 


scene  2]  HAMLET  85 

You  need  not  tell  us  what  Lord  Hamlet  said ; 

We  heard  it  all.  —  My  lord,  do  as  you  please  ; 

But,  if  you  hold  it  fit,  after  the  play,  185 

Let  his  queen  mother  all  alone  entreat  him 

To  show  his  grief.     Let  her  be  round0  with  him ; 

And  I'll  be  plac'd,  so  please0  you,  in  the  ear° 

Of  all  their  conference.     If  she  find  him°  not, 

To  England  send  him  ;  or  confine  him  where  190 

Your  wisdom  best  shall  think. 

King.  It  shall  be  so. 

Madness  in  great  ones  must  not  unwatch'd  go. 

[Exeunt. 

Scene  II.    A  Hall  in  the  Castle 

Enter  Hamlet  and  Players 

Hamlet.  Speak  the  speech,  I  pray  you,  as  I  pro- 
nounced it  to  you,  trippingly  on  the  tongue ;  but  if 
you  mouth  it,  as  many  of  your  players  do,  I  had  as 
lief  the  town-crier  spoke  my  lines.  Nor  do  not°  saw 
the  air  too  much  with  your  hand,  thus,  but  use  all 
gently ;  for  in  the  very  torrent,  tempest,  and,  as  I 
may  say,  the  whirlwind  of  passion,  you  must  acquire 
and  beget  a  temperance  that  may  give  it  smoothness 


86  HAMLET  [Act  III. 

0,  it  offends  me  to  the  soul  to  hear  a  robustious 
periwig-pated°  fellow  tear  a  passion  to  tatters,  to  very 
rags,  to  split  the  ears  of  the  groundlings,0  who  for  the 
most  part  are  capable  of  nothing  but  inexplicable 
dumb-shows0  and  noise.  I  would  have  such  a  fellow 
whipped  for  o'erdoing  Termagant0;  it  out-herods 
Herod.0     Fray   you,  avoid   it.  15 

First  Player.    I  warrant  your  honour. 

Hamlet.  Be  not  too  tame  neither,  but  let  your  own 
discretion  be  your  tutor.  Suit  the  action  to  the  word, 
the  word  to  the  action,  with  this  special  observance, 
that  you  o'erstep  not  the  modesty  of  nature ;  for  any- 
thing so  overdone  is  from0  the  purpose  of  playing, 
whose  end,  both  at  the  first  and  now,  was  and  is,  to 
hold,  as  'twere,  the  mirror  up  to  nature ;  to  show  vir- 
tue her  own  feature,  scorn  her  own  image,  and  the 
very  age  and  body  of  the  time  his  form  and  pressure.0 
Now  this  overdone,  or  come  tardy  off,°  though  it  make 
the  unskilful  laugh,  cannot  but  make  the  judicious 
grieve;  the  censure0  of  the  which  one0  must  in  your 
allowance  o'erweigh  a  whole  theatre  of  others.  0, 
t  here  be  players  that  I  have  seen  play,  and  heard 
others  praise,  and  that  highly,  not  to  speak  it  pro- 
fanely, that,  neither  having  the  accent  of  Christians 
nor  the  gait  of  Christian,  pagan,  nor   man,  have  so 


scene  2]  HAMLET  8? 

strutted  and  bellowed  that  I  have  thought  some  of 
nature's  journeymen  had  made  men  and  not  made 
them  well,  they  imitated  humanity  so  abominably. 

First  Player.  I  hope  we  have  reformed  that  indiffer- 
ently0 with  us,  sir.  38 

Hamlet.  0,  reform  it  altogether.  And  let  those 
that  play  your  clowns  speak  no  more  than  is  set  down 
for  them0;  for  there  be  of  them  that  will  themselves 
laugh,  to  set  on  some  quantity  of  barren  spectators  to 
laugh  too ;  though,  in  the  mean  time,  some  necessary 
question  of  the  play  be  then  to  be  considered.  That's 
villanous,  and  shows  a  most  pitiful  ambition  in  the 
fool  that  uses  it.     Go,  make  you  ready.  46 

[Exeunt  Players. 

Enter  Polonius,  Rosencrantz,  and  Guildenstern 

How  now,  my  lord !  Will  the  king  hear  this  piece  of 
work  ? 

Polonius.    And  the  queen  too,  and  that  presently. 

Hamlet.  Bid  the  players  make  haste.    [Exit  Polonius. 

Will  you  two  help  to  hasten  them  ?  51 

Rosencrantz.  )  T,7       •-,,  ■■      t 

\-  We  will,  my  lord. 

Guildenstern.  ) 

\_Exeunt  Rosencrantz  and  Guildenstern 
Hamlet.   What  ho !  Horatio ! 


88  HAMLET  [Act  III. 

Enter  Horatio 

Horatio.    Here,  sweet  lord,  at  your  service. 

Hamlet.    Horatio,  thou  art  e'en  as  just  a  man  55 

As  e'er  my  conversation  cop'd°  withal. 

Horatio.    0,  my  dear  lord,  — 

Hamlet.  Nay,  do  not  think  I  natter ; 

For  what  advancement  may  I  hope  from  thee 
That  no  revenue  hast  but  thy  good  spirits, 
To  feed  and  clothe  thee  ?     Why  should  the  poor  be 
flatter'd  ?  60 

No,  let  the  candi'd0  tongue  lick  absurd  pomp, 
And  crook  the  pregnant0  hinges  of  the  knee 
Where  thrift  may  follow  fawning.     Dost  thou  hear  ? 
Since  my  dear  soul  was  mistress  of  her  choice, 
And  could  of  men  distinguish,  her  election  65 

Hath  seal'd  thee  for  herself ;  for  thou  hast  been 
As  one,  in  suffering  all,  that  suffers  nothing, 
A  man  that  fortune's  buffets  and  rewards 
Hast  ta'en  with  equal  thanks.     And  blest  are  those 
Whose  blood  and  judgment0  are  so  well  commingled 
That  they  are  not  a  pipe  for  fortune's  finger  71 

To  sound  what  stop  she  please.     Give  me  that  man 
That  is  not  passion's  slave,  and  I  will  wear  him 
In  my  heart's  core,  ay,  in  my  heart  of  heart, 


scene  2]  HAMLET  89 

As  I  do  thee.     Something  too  much  of  this.  75 

There  is  a  play  to-night  before  the  king : 

One  scene  of  it  comes  near  the  circumstance 

Which  I  have  told  thee  of  my  father's  death. 

I  prithee,  when  thou  seest  that  act  afoot, 

Even  with  the  very  comment  of  thy  sonl°  80 

Observe  mine  uncle.     If  his  occulted0  guilt 

Do  not  itself  unkennel  in  one  speech, 

It  is  a  damned  ghost  that  we  have  seen, 

And  my  imaginations  are  as  foul 

As  Vulcan's  stithy.0     Give  him  heedful  note;  85 

For  I  mine  eyes  will  rivet  to  his  face, 

And  after  we  will  both  our  judgments  join 

In  censure  of  his  seeming. 

Horatio.  Well,  my  lord  : 

If  he  steal  aught  the  whilst  this  play  is  playing, '      90 
And  scape  detecting,  I  will  pay  the  theft. 

Hamlet.  They  are  coming  to  the  play ;  I  must  be  idle  ° : 
Get  you  a  place. 

Danish  march.  A  flourish.  Enter  King,  Queen, 
Polonius,  Ophelia,  Rosencrantz,  Guildenstern, 
and  others 

King.    How  fares0  our  cousin  Hamlet  ? 

Hamlet.    Excellent,  i'  faith ;  of  the  chameleon's  dish ; 


90  HAMLET  [Act  111. 

I  eat  the  air,  promise-crammed.  You  cannot  feed 
capons  so.  96 

King.  I  have  nothing  with  this  answer,  Hamlet; 
these  words  are  not  mine.0 

Hamlet.  No,  nor  mine  now.  [To  Polonius]  My 
lord,  you  played  once  i'  the  university,  you  say  ?       100 

Polonius.  That  did  I,  my  lord,  and  was  accounted  a 
good  actor. 

Hamlet.   What  did  you  enact  ? 

Polonius.  I  did  enact  Julius  Caesar.0  I  was  killed 
i'  the  Capitol ;  Brutus  killed  me.  105 

Hamlet.  It  was  a  brute  part  of  him  to  kill  so  capital 
a  calf  there.     Be  the  players  ready  ? 

Rosencrantz.  Ay,  my  lord;  they  stay  upon  your 
patience.0  109 

Queen.    Come  hither,  my  dear  Hamlet,  sit  by  me. 

Hamlet.  No,  good  mother,  here's  metal  more  attrac- 
tive. {.Lying  down  at  Ophelia's/^. 

Polonius.  [To  the  King]    O,  ho!  do  you  mark  that? 

Ophelia.    You  are  merry,  my  lord 

Hamlet.    Who?     I?  115 

Ophelia.    Ay,  my  lord. 

Hamlet.  0  God,  your  only  jig-maker.0  What  should 
a  man  do  but  be  merry  ?  for,  look  you,  how  cheerfully 
my  mother  looks,  and  my  father  died  within  these  two 
hours.  I2a 


scene  2]  HAMLET  91 

Ophelia.    Nay,  'tis  twice  two  months,  my  lord. 

Hamlet.  So  long?  Nay  then,  let  the  devil  wear 
black,  for  I'll  have  a  suit  of  sables.0  O  heavens !  Die 
two  months  ago,  and  not  forgotten  yet?  Then  there's 
hope  a  great  man's  memory  may  outlive  his  life  half  a 
year.  But,  by'r  lady,  he  must  build  churches,  then ; 
or  else  shall  he  suffer  not  thinking  on,0  with  the  hobby- 
horse, whose  epitaph  is  "  For,  0,  for,  0,  the  hobby-horse 
is  forgot."  °  129 


Hautboys  play.     The  dumb-show  enters0 

Enter  a  King  and  a  Queen  very  lovingly ;  the  Queen 
embracing  him,  and  he  her.  She  kneels,  and  makes 
shoiv  of  protestation  unto  him.  He  takes  her  up,  and 
declines  his  head  upon  her  neck  ;  lays  him  down  upon 
a  bank  of  flowers.  She,  seeing  him  asleep,  leaves  him. 
Anon  comes  in  a  fellow,  takes  off  his  crown,  kisses  it. 
and  pours  poison  in  the  King's  ears,  and  exit.  The 
Queen  returns  ;  finds  the  King  dead,  and  makes  pas- 
sionate action.  The  Poisoner,  tvith  some  two  or  three 
Mutes,  comes  in  again,  seeming  to  lament  ivith  her. 
The  dead  body  is  carried  away.  The  Poisoner  wooes 
the  Queen  with  gifts.  She  seems  loath  and  unwilling 
awhile,  but  in  the  end  accepts  his  love.  [Exeunt. 


92  HAMLET  [Act  in 

Ophelia.    What  means  this,  my  lord  ? 

Hamlet.  Marry,  this  is  miching  mallecho0 ;  it  means 
mischief. 

Ophelia.  Belike0  this  show  imports  the  argument0 
of  the  play. 

Enter  Prologue 

Hamlet.  We  shall  know  by  this  fellow  :  the  players 
cannot  keep  counsel ;  they'll  tell  all.  136 

Ophelia.    Will  he  tell  us  what  this  show  meant  ? 

Hamlet.    Ay,  or  any  show  that  you'll  show  him. 

Ophelia.  You  are  naught,0  you  are  naught.  I'll 
mark  the  play.  140 

Prologue.   For  us,  and  for  our  tragedy, 

Here  stooping  to  your  clemency, 

We  beg  your  hearing  patiently.  [Exit. 

Hamlet.    Is  this  a  prologue,  or  the  posy°  of  a  ring  ? 
Ophelia.    'Tis  brief,  my  lord.  145 

Hamlet.    As  woman's  love. 

Enter  two  Players,  King  and  Queen 

Player  King.    Full  thirty  times  hath  Phoebus'  cart°  gone 
round 
Neptune's  salt  wash0  and  Tellus'  orbed  ground, 
And  thirty  dozen  moons  with  borrow'd  sheen 
About  the  world  have  times  twelve  thirties  been  15a 


scene  2]  HAMLET  93 

Since  love  our  hearts  and  Hymen  did  our  hands 
Unite  commutual0  in  most  sacred  bands. 

Player  Queen.    So  many  journeys  may  the  sun  and  moon 
Make  us  again  count  o'er,  ere  love  be  done  ! 
But,  woe  is  me,  you  are  so  sick  of  late,  155 

So  far  from  cheer  and  from  your  former  state, 
That  I  distrust  you.°     Yet,  though  I  distrust, 
Discomfort  you,  my  lord,  it  nothing  must: 
For  women's  fear  and  love  holds  quantity,0 
In  neither  aught,  or  in  extremity.0  160 

Now,  what  my  love  is,  proof  hath  made  you  know, 
And  as  my  love  is  siz'd,°  my  fear  is  so. 
Where  love  is  great,  the  littlest  doubts  are  fear; 
Where  little  fears  grow  great,  great  love  grows  there. 

Player  King.   'Faith,  I  must  leave  thee,  love,  and  shortly  too, 
My  operant0  powers  their  functions  leave0  to  do  ;  166 

And  thou  shalt  live  in  this  fair  world  behind, 
Honour'd,  belov'd,  and  haply  one  as  kind 
For  husband  shalt  thou  — 

Player  Queen.  O,  confound  the  rest ! 

Such  love  must  needs  be  treason  in  my  breast.  170 

In  second  husband  let  me  be  accurst ! 
None  wed  the  second  but  who  kill'd  the  first. 

Hamlet.    [Aside]  Wormwood !     Wormwood ! 

Player  Queen.   The  instances0  that  second  marriage  move 
Are  base  respects0  of  thrift,  but  none  of  love.  175 

A  second  time  I  kill  my  husband  dead, 
When  second  husband  kisses  me  in  bed. 

Player  King.    I  do  believe  you  think  what  now  you  speak  ; 


94  HAMLET  [Act  III. 

But  what  we  do  determine  oft  we  break. 

Purpose  is  but  the  slave  to  memory,0  X8C 

Of  violent  birth,  but  poor  validity0  ; 

Which  now,  like  fruit  unripe,  sticks  on  the  tree, 

But  fall,0  unshaken,  when  they  mellow  be. 

Most  necessary0  'tis  that  we  forget 

To  pay  ourselves  what  to  ourselves  is  debt.0  185 

What  to  ourselves  in  passion  we  propose, 

The  passion  ending,  doth  the  purpose  lose. 

The  violence  of  either  grief  or  joy 

Their  own  enactures0  with  themselves  destroy. 

Where  joy  most  revels,  grief  doth  most  lament ;  19c 

Grief  joys,  joy  grieves,  on  slender  accident. 

This  world  is  not  for  aye,  nor  'tis  not  strange 

That  even  our  loves0  should  with  our  fortunes  change  : 

For  'tis  a  question  left  us  yet  to  prove, 

Whether  hive  lead  fortune,  or  else  fortune  love. 

The  great  man  down,  you  mark  his  favourites  flies0  ; 

The  poor  advanc'd  makes  friends  of  enemies. 

And  hitherto  doth  love  on  fortune  tend  ; 

For  who  not  needs  shall  never  lack  a  friend, 

And  who  in  want  a  hollow  friend  doth  try,  20c 

Directly  seasons0  him  his  enemy. 

But,  orderly  to  end  where  I  begun, 

Our  wills  and  fates  do  so  contrary  run 

That  our  devices  still  are  overthrown. 

Our  thoughts  are  ours,  their  ends  none  of  our  own.  205 

So  think  thou  wilt  no  second  husband  wed, 

But  die°  thy  thoughts  when  thy  lirst  lord  is  dead. 


i95 


scene  2]  HAMLET  95 

Player  Queen.    Nor  earth  to  give  ine  food,  nor  heaven  light ! 
Sport  and  repose  lock  from  me  day  and  night  I 
To  desperation  turn  my  trust  and  hope  !  21c 

An  anchor's  cheer0  in  prison  be  my  scope0  ! 
Each  opposite0  that  blanks0  the  face  of  joy 
Meet  what  I  would  have  well,  and  it  destroy  ! 
Both  here  and  hence  pursue  me  lasting  strife, 
If,  once  a  widow,  ever  I  be  wife  !  215 

Hamlet.   If  she  should  break  it  now ! 

Player  King.  'Tis  deeply  sworn.  Sweet,  leave  me  here  a  while, 
My  spirits  grow  dull,  and  fain  I  would  beguile 
The  tedious  day  with  sleep.  [Sleeps. 

Player  Queen.  Sleep  rock  thy  brain, 

And  never  come  mischance  between  us  twain  !  [Exit. 

Hamlet.    Madam,  how  like  you  this  play  ?  221 

Queen.   The  lady  protests0  too  much,  rnethinks. 

Hamlet.    0,  but  she'll  keep  her  word. 

King.  Have  you  heard  the  argument  ?  Is  there  no 
offence  in't  ?  225 

Hamlet.  No,  no.  They  do  but  jest,  poison  in  jest; 
no  offence  i'  the  world. 

King.   What  do  you  call  the  play  ? 

Hamlet.  The  Mouse-trap.  Marry,  how?  Tropi- 
cally.0 This  play  is  the  image0  of  a  murder  done  in 
Vienna.  Gonzago  is  the  duke's  name ;  his  wife,  Bap- 
tista.     You  shall  see  anon.     'Tis  a  knavish  piece  of 


96  HAMLET  [Act  III 

work,  but  what  o'  that?  Your  majesty  and  we  that 
have  free0  souls,  it  touches  us  not.  Let  the  galled0 
jade  wince,  our  withers  are  un wrung.  23; 

Enter  Luc  1  an  us 

This  is  one  Lucianus,  nephew  to  the  king. 

Ophelia.    You  are  as  good  as  a  chorus,0  my  lord. 

Hamlet.  I  could  interpret  between  you  and  your 
love,  if  I  could  see  the  puppets  dallying. 

Ophelia.    Still  better,  and  worse.  240 

Hamlet.  So  you  must  take  your  husbands.  Begin, 
murderer.  Pox,  leave  thy  damnable  faces,  and  begin. 
Come ;  "  The  croaking  raven  doth  bellow  for  revenge.0  " 

Lucianus.   Thoughts  black,  hands   apt,  drugs  fit,  and  time 
agreeing ; 
Confederate  season,0  else  no  creature  seeing ;  245 

Thou  mixture  rank,  of  midnight  weeds  collected, 
With  Hecate's  ban°  thrice  blasted,  thrice  infected, 
Thy  natural  magic  and  dire  property, 
On  wholesome0  life  usurp0  immediately. 

[Pours  the  poison  into  the  sleeper's  ear. 

Hamlet.  He  poisons  him  i'  the  garden  for's  estate. 
His  name's  Gonzago.  The  story  is  extant,  and  writ 
in  choice  Italian.  You  shall  see  anon  how  the  mur- 
derer gets  the  love  of  Gonzago's  wife.  253 


scene  2]  HAMLET  97 

Ophelia.    The  king  rises. 

Hamlet.    What,  frighted  with  false  fire !  255 

Queen.    How  fares  my  lord  ? 

Polonius.    Give  o'er  the  play. 

King.    Give  me  some  light !     Away  ! 

All.    Lights,  lights,  lights  ! 

[Exeunt  all  but  Hamlet  and  Horatio. 
Hamlet.    Why,  let  the  strucken  deer  go  vieep,  260 

Tlie  hart  ungaUed  play, 
For  some  must  tcatch,  while  some  must  sleep  ; 
So  runs  the  world  away 
Would  not  this,  sir,  and  a  forest  of  feathers0  —  if  the 
rest  of  my  fortunes  turn  Turk0  with  me  —  with  two 
Provincial  roses0  on  my  razed0  shoes,  get  me  a  fellow- 
ship in  a  cry°  of  players,  sir  ?  267 
Horatio.    Half  a  share. 
Hamlet.    A  whole  one,  I. 

For  thou  dost  know,  0  Damon  dear,         270 

This  realm  dismantled  was 
Of  Jove  himself;  and  now  reigns  here 
A  very,  very  —  pajoek.0 
Horatio.    You  might  have  rhymed. 
Hamlet.    0  good  Horatio,  I'll  take  the  ghost's  word 
for  a  thousand  pound.     Didst  perceive?  276 

Horatio.    Very  well,  my  lord. 


98  HAMLET 


[Act  III. 


Hamlet.   Upon  the  talk  of  the  poisoning  ? 
Horatio.    I  did  very  well  note  him. 
Hamlet.   Ah,  ha!     Come,  some  music!     Come,  the 
recorders0 !  2gl 

For  if  the  king  like  not  the  comedy, 
Why  then,  belike,  he  likes  it  not,  perdy.° 
Come,  some  music ! 

Reenter  Kosencrantz  and  Guildenstern 

Guildenstern.    Good  my  lord,  vouchsafe  me  a  word 
with  you.  2g6 

Hamlet.    Sir,  a  whole  history. 

Guildenstern.   The  king,  sir,  — 

Hamlet.    Ay,  sir,  what  of  him  ? 

Guildenstern.  Is  in  his  retirement  marvellous  dis- 
temper'd.0 

Hamlet.    With  drink,  sir  ? 

Guildenstern.    No,  my  lord,  rather  with  choler.0 

Hamlet.  Your  wisdom  should  show  itself  more 
richer0  to  signify  this  to  his  doctor;  for,  for  me  to 
put  him  to  his  purgation0  would  perhaps  plunge  him 
into  far  more  chcler.  *m 

Guildenstern.  Good  my  lord,  put  your  discourse  into 
some  frame,0  and  start  not  so  wildly  from  my  affair. 

Hamlet.    I  am  tame,  sir.     Pronounce. 


scene  2]  HAMLET  99 

Guildenstern.  The  queen,  your  mother,  in  most  great 
affliction  of  spirit,  hath  sent  me  to  you.  302 

Hamlet.    You  are  welcome. 

Guildenstern.  Nay,  good  my  lord,  this  courtesy  is 
not  of  the  right  breed.  If  it  shall  please  you  to  make 
me  a  wholesome  answer,  I  will  do  your  mother's  com- 
mandment ;  if  not,  your  pardon0  and  my  return  shall 
be  the  end  of  my  business.  308 

Hamlet.    Sir,  I  cannot. 

Guildenstern.    What,  my  lord  ? 

Hamlet.  Make  you  a  wholesome  answer ;  my  wit's 
diseased.  But,  sir,  such  answer  as  I  can  make,  you 
shall  command  ;  or,  rather,  as  you  say,  my  mother. 
Therefore,  no  more,  but  to  the  matter;  my  mother, 
you  say, —  3J5 

Rosencrantz.  Then  thus  she  says:  your  behaviour 
hath  struck  her  into  amazement  and  admiration.0 

Hamlet.  0  wonderful  son,  that  can  so  astonish  a 
mother !  But  is  there  no  sequel  at  the  heels  of  this 
mother's  admiration  ?     Impart.  320 

Rosencrantz.  She  desires  to  speak  with  you  in  her 
closet,  ere  you  go  to  bed. 

Hamlet.  We  shall0  obey,  were  she  ten  times  our 
mother.     Have  you  any  further  trade0  with  us  ? 

Rosencrantz.   My  lord,  you  once  did  love  me.  325 


100  HAMLET  [Act  III 

Hamlet.    So  I  do  still,  by  these  pickers  and  stealers.* 
Rosencrantz.    Good  my  lord,  what  is  your  cause  of 

distemper0  ?    You  do,  surely,  bar  the  door  upon  your 

own  liberty,  if  you  deny  your  griefs  to  your  friend. 
Hamlet.   Sir,  I  lack  advancement.  330 

Rosencrantz.    How  can  that  be,  when  you  have  the 

voiceof  the  king  himself  for  your  succession  in  Denmark? 
Hamlet.    Ay,  sir,  but,  "  While  the  grass  grows,"  °  — 

the  proverb  is  something  musty.  334 

Reenter  Players  ivith  Recorders 

0,  the  recorders !  Let  me  see  one.  To  withdraw  with 
you° :  —  why  do  you  go  about  to  recover  the  wind0 
of  me,  as  if  you  would  drive  me  into  a  toil  ?  337 

Guildenstern.  0,  my  lord,  if  my  duty  be  too  bold,  my 
love  is  too  unmannerly 

Hamlet.  1  do  not  well  understand  that.  Will  you 
play  upon  this  pipe  ?  341 

Guildenstern.    My  lord,  I  cannot. 

Hamlet.   1  pray  you. 

Guildenstern.    Believe  me,  I  cannot. 

Hamlet.    I  do  beseech  you.  345 

Guildenstern.   I  know  no  touch  of  it,  my  lord. 

Hamlet.  'Tis  as  easy  as  lying.  Govern  these  vent- 
ages with  your  fingers  and  thumb,  give  it  breath  with 


scene  2]  HAMLET  101 

your  mouth,  and  it  will  discourse  most  eloquent  music. 
Look  you,  these  are  the  stops.0  350 

Guildenstem.  But  these  cannot  I  command  to  any 
utterance  of  harmony  ;  I  have  not  the  skill. 

Hamlet.  Why,  look  you  now,  how  unworthy  a  thing 
you  make  of  me !  You  would  play  upon  me ;  you 
would  seem  to  know  my  stops ;  you  would  pluck  out 
the  heart  of  my  mystery ;  you  would  sound  me  from 
my  lowest  note  to  the  top  of  my  compass.  And  there 
is  much  music,  excellent  voice,  in  this  little  organ ; 
yet  cannot  you  make  it  speak.  'Sblood,  do  you  think 
I  am  easier  to  be  played  on  than  a  pipe  ?  Call  me 
what  instrument  you  will,  though  you  can  fret  me,  yet 
you  cannot  play  upon  me.  —  362 

Enter  Polonius 

God  bless  you,  sir  ! 

Polonius.  My  lord,  the  queen  would  speak  with 
you,  and  presently.  365 

Hamlet.  Do  you  see  that  cloud  that's  almost  in 
shape  of  a  camel  ? 

Polonius.    By  the  mass,  and  'tis  like  a  camel,  indeed. 

Hamlet.   Methinks  it  is  like  a  weasel. 

Polonius.   It  is  backed  like  a  weasel.  370 

Hamlet.   Or  like  a  whale  ? 


102  HAMLET  [Act  III 

Polonium.    Very  like  a  whale. 

Hamlet.  Then  I  will  come  to  my  mother  by  and  by.3 
—  They  fool  me  to  the  top  of  my  bent.°  —  I  will  come 
by  and  by.  375 

Polonius.    I  will  say  so. 

Hamlet.  By  and  by  is  easily  said.  —  [Exit  Polonius.] 
Leave  me,  friends.  —  [Exeunt  all  but  Hamlet. 

'Tis  now  the  very  witching0  time  of  night,  379 

When  churchyards  yawn  and  hell  itself  breathes  out 
Contagion  to  this  world.    Now  could  I  drink  hot  blood, 
And  do  such  bitter  business  as  the  day 
Would  quake  to  look  on.     Soft !  now  to  my  mother. 

0  heart,  lose  not  thy  nature;  let  not  ever 

The  soul  of  Nero0  enter  this  firm  bosom.  385 

Let  me  be  cruel,  not  unnatural. 

1  will  speak  daggers  to  her,  but  use  none, 
My  tongue  and  soul  in  this  be  hypocrites, — 
How  in  my  words  soever  she  be  shent,° 

To  give  them  seals0  never,  my  soul,  consent !        [Exit 

Scene  III.     A  Room  in  the  Castle 

Enter  King,  Eosencrantz.  and  Guildenstekn 

King.    I  like  him  not,  nor  stands  it  safe  with  us 
To  let  his  madness  range.     Therefore  prepare  you ; 


scene  3J  HAMLET  103 

I  your  commission  will  forthwith  dispatch, 

And  he  to  England  shall  along  with  you. 

The  terms0  of  our  estate  may  not  endure  5 

Hazard  so  dangerous  as  doth  hourly  grow 

Out  of  his  lunacies. 

Guildenstern.  We  will  ourselves  provide. 

Most  holy  and  religious  fear  it  is 
To  keep  those  many  many  bodies  safe 
That  live  and  feed  upon  your  majesty.  10 

Rosencrantz.   The  single  and  peculiar0  life  is  bound, 
With  all  the  strength  and  armour  of  the  mind,° 
To  keep  itself  from  noyance ;°  but  much  more 
That  spirit  upon  whose  weal  depends  and  rests 
The  lives  of  many.     The  cease0  of  majesty  15 

Dies  not  alone ;  but,  like  a  gulf,°  doth  draw 
What's  near  it  with  it.     It  is  a  massy  wheel, 
Fix'd  on  the  summit  of  the  highest  mount, 
To  whose  huge  spokes  ten  thousand  lesser  things 
Are  mortis'd  and  adjoin'd;  which,  when  it  falls,        20 
Each  small  annexment,  petty  consequence, 
Attends  the  boisterous0  ruin.     Never  alone 
Did  the  king  sigh,  but  with  a  general  groan. 

King.    Arm  you,°  I  pray  you,  to  this  speedy  voyage ; 
For  we  will  fetters  put  upon  this  fear,°  25 

Which  now  goes  too  free-footed. 


104  HAMLET  [Act  III 

Jiosencrantz. 


;.l 


We  will  haste  us. 
Guildenstern. 

[Exeunt  Rosencrantz  and  Guildenstern 

Enter  Polonius 

Polonius.    My  lord,  he's  going  to  his  mother's  closet. 
Behind  the  arras  I'll  convey  myself, 
To  hear  the  process0  ;  I'll  warrant  she'll  tax  him  home0 ; 
And,  as  you  said,  and  wisely  was  it  said,  3a 

'Tis  meet  that  some  more  audience  than  a  mother, 
Since  nature  makes  them  partial,  should  o'erhear 
The  speech,  of  vantage.0     Fare  you  well,  my  liege: 
I'll  call  upon  you  ere  you  go  to  bed, 
And  tell  you  what  I  know. 

King.  Thanks,  dear  my  lord.  35 

[Exit  Polonius. 
O,  my  offence  is  rank,  it  smells  to  heaven  ; 
It  hath  the  primal  eldest  curse  upon't, 
A  brother's  murder.     Pray  can  I  not, 
Though  inclination  be  as  sharp  as  will.0 
My  stronger  guilt  defeats  my  strong  intent,  4<j 

And,  like  a  man  to  double  business0  bound, 
I  stand  in  pause  where  I  shall  first  begin, 
And  both  neglect.     What  if  this  cursed  hand 
Were  thicker  than  itself  with  brother's  blood? 


scene  3]  HAMLET  105 

Is  there  not  rain  enough  in  the  sweet  heavens  45 

To  wash  it  white  as  snow  ?     Whereto  serves  mercy 

But  to  confront  the  visage  of  offence  ? 

And  what's  in  prayer  but  this  twofold  force, 

To  be  forestalled  ere  we  come  to  fall, 

Or  pardon'd  being  down  ?     Then  I'll  look  up;  5c 

My  fault  is  past.0     But,  0,  what  form  of  prayer 

Can  serve  my  turn  ?   "  Forgive  me  my  foul  murder,"  — 

That  cannot  be,  since  I  am  still  possess'd 

Of  those  effects  for  which  I  did  the  murder,  55 

My  crown,  mine  own  ambition,0  and  my  queen. 

May  one  be  pardon'd  and  retain  the  offence0  ? 

In  the  corrupted  currents0  of  this  world 

Offence's  gilded  hand  may  shove  by  justice, 

And  oft  'tis  seen  the  wicked  prize  itself 

Buys  out  the  law.     But  'tis  not  so  above  ;  60 

There  is  no  shuffling,  there  the  action  lies 

In  his  true  nature ;  and  we  ourselves  compell'd, 

Even  to  the  teeth  and  forehead  of  our  faults, 

To  give  in  evidence.     What  then  ?     What  rests0  ? 

Try  what  repentance  can.     What  can  it  not  ?  65 

Yet  what  can  it  when  one  cannot  repent  ? 

O  wretched  state  !     0  bosom  black  as  death ! 

0  limed0  soul,  that,  struggling  to  be  free, 

Art  more  engag'd0 !      Help,  angels  !     Make  assay ! 


106  HAMLET  [Act  III 

Bow,  stubborn  knees,  and,  heart  with  strings  of  steel, 
Be  soft  as  sinews  of  the  new-born  babe!  ;i 

All  may  be  well.  [Retires  and  kneels. 

Enter  Hamlet 

Hamlet.   Now  might  I  do  it  pat,°  now  he  is  praying, 
And  now  I'll  do't.     And  so  he  goes  to  heaven ; 
And  so  am  I  reveng'd.     That  would0  be  scann'd  :        75 
A  villain  kills  my  father ;  and  for  that, 
I,  his  sole  son,  do  this  same  villain  send 
To  heaven ! 

0,  this  is  hire  and  salary,0  not  revenge. 
He  took  my  father  grossly,  full  of  bread,0  Sc 

With  all  his  crimes  broad  blown,  as  fresh  as  May, 
And  how  his  audit  stands  who  knows  save  heaven  ? 
But  in  our  circumstance0  and  course  of  thought. 
'Tis  heavy  with  him  ;  and  am  I  then  reveng'd, 
To  take0  him  in  the  purging  of  his  soul,  $5 

When  he  is  fit  and  season'd  for  his  passage  ? 
No! 

Up,  sword,  and  know  thou  a  more  horrid  hent°: 
When  he  is  drunk  asleep,  or  in  his  rage, 
Or  in  the  incestuous  pleasure  of  his  bed ;  9c 

At  gaming,  swearing,  or  about  some  act 
That  has  no  relish  of  salvation  in't ; 


scene  4]  HAMLET  107 

Then  trip  him,  that  his  heels  may  kick  at  heaven, 
And  that  his  soul  may  be  as  darnn'd  and  black 
As  hell,  whereto  it  goes.     My  mother  stays.  95 

This  physic0  but  prolongs  thy  sickly  days.  [Exit 

King.    [Rising]    My    words    fly   up,    my    thoughts 
remain  below ; 
Words  without  thoughts  never  to  heaven  go.        [Exit. 

Scene   IV.     The  Queen's  Closet 
Enter  Queen  and  Polonius 

Polonius.    He   will    come   straight.     Look   you   lay 
home  to  him. 
Tell  him  his  pranks  have  been  too  broad  to  bear  with, 
And  that  your  grace  hath  screen'd  and  stood  between 
Much  heat  and  him.     I'll  silence  me  even  here. 
Pray  you,  be  round  with  him.  5 

Hamlet.    [Within]  Mother,  mother,  mother  ! 

Queen.  I'll  warrant  you, 

Fear  me°  not.     Withdraw,  I  hear  him  coming. 

[Polonius  hides  behind  the  arras. 

Enter  Hamlet 

Hamlet.   Now,  mother,  what's  the  matter  ? 

Queen.   Hamlet,  thou  hast  thy  father  much  offended 


108  HAMLET  [Act  III 

Hamlet.    Mother,  you  have  my  father  much  offended. 

Queen.    Come,  come,  you  answer  with  an  idle  tongue. 

Hamlet.    Go,  go,  you  question0  with  a  wicked  tongue. 

Queen.    Why,  how  now,  Hamlet ! 

Hamlet.  What's  the  matter  now  ?  13 

Queen.    Have  you  forgot  me  ? 

Hamlet.  No,  by  the  rood,0  not  so : 

Yon  are  the  queen,  your  husband's  brother's  wife;     15 
And  —  would  it  were  not  so  !  —  you  are  my  mother. 

Queen.   Nay,  then,   I'll  set  those  to  you    that   can 
speak. 

Hamlet.    Come,  come,  and  sit  you  down.     You  shall 
not  budge ; 
You  go  not  till  I  set  you  up  a  glass 
Where  you  may  see  the  inmost  part  of  you.  20 

Queen.    What  wilt  thou  do?     Thou  wilt  not  murder 
me? 
Help,  help,  ho  ! 

Polonius.    [Behind]  What,  ho!  Help,  help,  help! 

Hamlet,    [firajcmr/]  Hownow!    A  rat  ?     Dead,  for  a 
ducat,  dead  !  \_Makes  a  pass  through  the  arras. 

Poh niins.    [Behind]  0, 1  am  slain  !     [Falls  and  dies. 

Queen.   0  me,  what  hast  thou  done  ? 

HaynJct.  ^Tay,  I  know  not: 

Is  it  the  king  ?  20 


scene  4]  HAMLET  109 

Queen.    0,  what  a  rash  and  bloody  deed  is  this  ! 

Hamlet.  A  bloody  deed !  Almost  as  bad,  good  mother, 
As  kill  a  king,  and  marry  with  his  brother. 

Queen.    As  kill  a  king ! 

Hamlet.  Ay,  lady,  'twas  my  word.  3c 

[Lifts  iqj  the  arras  and  discovers  Polonius. 
Thou  wretched,  rash,  intruding  fool,  farewell  ! 
I  took  thee  for  thy  better ;  take  thy  fortune. 
Thou  find'st  to  be  too  busy  is  some  danger. 
Leave  wringing  of  your  hands.     Peace !  Sit  you  down, 
And  let  me  wring  your  heart;  for  so  I  shall,  35 

If  it  be  made  of  penetrable  stuff, 
If  damned  custom  have  not  braz'd  it  so 
That  it  is  proof0  and  bulwark  against  sense. 

Queen.    What  have  I  done,  that  thou  darest  wag  thy 
tongue 
In  noise  so  rude  against  me  ? 

Hamlet.  Such  an  act  40 

That  blurs  the  grace  and  blush  of  modesty, 
Calls  virtue  hypocrite,  takes  off  the  rose0 
From  the  fair  forehead  of  an  innocent  love 
And  sets  a  blister0  there,  makes  marriage-vows 
As  false  as  dicers'  oaths ;  0,  such  a  deed  45 

As  from  the  body  of  contraction0  plucks 
The  very  soul,  and  sweet  religion  makes 


110  HAMLET  [Act  III. 

A  rhapsody  of  words.     Heaven's  face  doth  glow,0 
Yea,  this  solidity  and  compound  mass,0 
With  tristful  visage,  as  against  the  doom,  50 

Is  thought-sick  at  the  act. 

Queen.  Ay  me,  what  act 

That  roars  so  loud,  and  thunders  in  the  index0  ? 

Hamlet.   Look  here,  upon  this  picture,  and  on  this, 
The  counterfeit  presentment0  of  two  brothers. 
See,  what  a  grace  was  seated  on  this  brow ;  55 

Hyperion's  curls ;  the  front0  of  Jove  himself ; 
An  eye  like  Mars,  to  threaten  and  command; 
A  station0  like  the  herald  Mercury 
Xew-lighted  on  a  heaven-kissing  hill ; 
A  combination  and  a  form  indeed,  60 

Where  every  god  did  seem  to  set  his  seal, 
To  give  the  world  assurance  of  a  man. 
This  was  your  husband.     Look  you  now,  what  follows. 
Here  is  your  husband;  like  a  mildew'd  ear, 
Blasting  his  wholesome0  brother.     Have  you  eyes  ?   65 
Could  you  on  this  fair  mountain  leave  to  feed, 
And  batten0  on  this  moor  ?     Ha  !  have  you  eyes  ? 
You  cannot  call  it  love ;  for  at  your  age 
The  hey-day°  in  the  blood  is  tame,  it's  humble, 
And  waits  upon  the  judgment:  and  what  judgment   70 
Would  step  from  this  to  this  ?     Sense,  sure,  you  have, 


scene  4]  HAMLET  111 

Else  could  you  not  have  motion.0     But  sure,  that  sense 

Is  apoplex'd ;  for  madness  would  not  err, 

Nor  sense  to  ecstasy0  was  ne'er  so  thrall'd 

But  it  reserv'd  some  quantity  of  choice,  73 

To  serve  in  such  a  difference.     What  devil  was't 

That  thus  hath  cozen' d  you  at  hoodman-blind0  ? 

Eyes  without  feeling,  feeling  without  sight, 

Ears  without  hands  or  eyes,  smelling  sans°  all, 

Or  but  a  sickly  part  of  one  true  sense  So 

Could  not  so  mope.° 

0  shame,  where  is  thy  blush  ?     Rebellious  hell, 

If  thou  canst  mutine0  in  a  matron's  bones, 

To  flaming  youth  let  virtue  be  as  wax, 

And  melt  in  her  own  fire.     Proclaim  no  shame  85 

When  the  compulsive  ardour  gives  the  charge, 

Since  frost  itself  as  actively  doth  burn 

And  reason  panders  will.0 

Queen.  O  Hamlet,  speak  no  more. 

Thoa  turn'st  mine  eyes  into  my  very  soul, 
And  there  I  see  such  black  and  grained0  spots  90 

As  will  not  leave  their  tinct.0 

Hamlet.  Nay,  but  to  live 

In  the  rank  sweat  of  an  enseamed0  bed, 
Stew'd  in  corruption,  honeying  and  making  love 
Over  the  nasty  sty,  — 


112  HAMLET  [Act  III 

Queen.  0,  speak  to  me  no  more. 

These  words,  like  daggers,  enter  in  mine  ears  ;  95 

No  more,  sweet  Hamlet ! 

Hamlet.  A  murderer  and  a  villain  ; 

A  slave  that  is  not  twentieth  part  the  tithe 
Of  your  precedent  lord  ;  a  vice0  of  kings ; 
A  cutpurse0  of  the  empire  and  the  rule, 
That  from  a  shelf  the  precious  diadem  stole,  100 

And  put  it  in  his  pocket ! 

Queen.  No  more  ! 

Hamlet.   A  king  of  shreds  and  patches,0  — 

Enter  Ghost 

Save  me,  and  hover  o'er  me  with  your  wings, 

You  heavenly  guards!  —  What  would  your  gracious 
figure  ? 
Queen.   Alas,  he's  mad  !  105 

Hamlet.    Do  you  not  come  your  tardy  son  to  chide, 

That,  laps'd0  in  time  and  passion,  lets  go  by 

The  important0  acting  of  your  dread  command  ? 

0,  say ! 

Ghost.    Do  not  forget.     This  visitation  no 

Is  but  to  whet  thy  almost  blunted  purpose. 

But,  look,  amazement0  on  thy  mother  sits ; 

O,  step  between  her  and  her  fighting  soul. 


scene  4]  HAMLET  113 

Conceit0  in  weakest  bodies  strongest  works ; 
Speak  to  her,  Hamlet. 

Hamlet.  How  is  it  with  you,  lady  ?   115 

Queen.    Alas,  how  is't  with  you, 
That  you  do  bend  your  eye  on  vacancy, 
And  with  the  ineorporaF  air  do  hold  discourse  ? 
Forth  at  your  eyes  your  spirits  wildly  peep ; 
And,  as  the  sleeping  soldiers  in  the  alarm,0  120 

Your  bedded  hair,  like  life  in  excrements,  ° 
Starts  up,  and  stands  an°  end.     0  gentle  son, 
Upon  the  heat  and  flame  of  thy  distemper0 
Sprinkle  cool  patience.     Whereon  do  you  look  ? 

Hamlet.    On  him,  on  him !     Look  you,  how  pale  he 
glares !  I25 

His  form  and  cause  conjoin'd,  preaching  to  stones, 
Would   make   them   capable.0  —  Do    not    look    upon 

me, 
Lest  with  this  piteous  action  you  convert 
My  stern  effects.0     Then  what  I  have  to  do 
Will  want  true  colour0;  tears  perchance  for  blood.   130 

Queen.    To  whom  do  you  speak  this  ? 

Hamlet.  Do  you  see  nothing  there  ? 

Queen.   Nothing  at  all ;  yet  all  that  is  I  see. 

Hamlet.    Nor  did  you  nothing  hear  ? 

Queen.  No,  nothing  but  ourselves. 

1 


114  HAMLET  [Act  III 

Hamlet.    Why,  look  you  there  !     Look,  how  it  steals 
away ! 
My  father,  in  his  habit  as  he  liv'd° !  135 

Look,  where  he  goes,  even  now,  out  at  the  portal ! 

[Exit  Ghost. 

Queen.    This  is  the  very  coinage  of  your  brain ; 
This  bodiless  creation  ecstasy0 
Is  very  cunning  in. 

Hamlet.  Ecstasy ! 

My  pulse,  as  yours,  doth  temperately  keep  time,       140 
And    makes    as   healthful    music.      It    is   not   mad- 
ness 
That  I  have  utter'd.     Bring  me  to  the  test, 
And  I  the  matter  will  re-word ;  which  madness 
Would  gambol0  from.     Mother,  for  love  of  grace, 
Lay  not  that  nattering  unction  to  your  soul,  145 

That  not  your  trespass,  but  my  madness  speaks. 
It  will  but  skin  and  him  the  ulcerous  place, 
Whilst  rank  corruption,  mining  all  within, 
Infects  unseen.     Confess  yourself  to  heaven  ; 
Repent  what's  past;  avoid  what  is  to  come;  150 

And  do  not  spread  the  compost  on  the  weeds, 
To     make    them     ranker.       Forgive     me     this     my 

virtue0 ; 
For  in  the  fatness  of  these  pursy0  times 


scene  4]  HAMLET  115 

Virtue  itself  of  vice  must  pardon  beg, 

Yea,  curb0  and  woo  for  leave  to  do  him  good.  155 

Queen.     O   Hamlet,  thou0  hast   cleft   my  heart  in 
twain. 

Hamlet.   0,  throw  away  the  worser  part  of  it, 
And  live  the  purer  with  the  other  half. 
Good  night.     But  go  not  to  mine  uncle's  bed ; 
Assume  a  virtue,  if  you  have  it  not.  160 

That  monster,  custom,  who  all  sense0  doth  eat, 
Of  habits  devil,0  is  angel  yet  in  this,  — 
That  to  the  use  of  actions  fair  and  good 
He  likewise  gives  a  frock  or  livery,0 
That  aptly  is  put  on.     Refrain  to-night,  165 

And  that  shall  lend  a  kind  of  easiness 
To  the  next  abstinence ;  the  next  more  easy  ; 
For  use  almost  can  change  the  stamp  of  nature, 
And  either  master  the  devil,  or  throw  him  out 
With  wondrous  potency.     Once  more,  good  night.    170 
And  when  you  are  desirous  to  be  bless'd, 
I'll  blessing  beg  of  you.     For  this  same  lord, 

[Pointing  to  Polonius. 
I  do  repent ;  but  heaven  hath  pleas' d  it  so, 
To  punish  me  with  this0  and  this  with  me, 
That  I  must  be  their0  scourge  and  minister.  175 

I  will  bestow  him,  and  will  answer  well0 


1 16  HAMLET  [Act  III 

The  death  I  gave  him.     So,  again,  good  night. 

I  must  be  cruel,  only  to  be  kind. 

Thus  bad  begins  and  worse  remains  behind. 

One  word  more,  good  lady. 

Queen.  What  shall  I  do  ?         iSo 

Hamlet.   Not  this,  by  no  means,  that  I  bid  you  do : 

Let  the  bloat  king  tempt  you  again  to  bed ; 

Pinch  wanton  on  your  cheek  ;  call  you  his  mouse ; 

And  let  him,  for  a  pair  of  reechy0  kisses, 

Or  paddling  in  your  neck  with  his  damn'd  fingers,    185 

.Make  you  to  ravel  all  this  matter  out, 

That  I  essentially  am  not  in  madness, 

But  mad  in  craft.     'Twere  good  you  let  him  know; 

For  who,  that's  but  a  queen,  fair,  sober,  wise, 

Would  from  a  paddock,0  from  a  bat,  a  gib,°  190 

Such  dear  concernings  hide  ?     Who  would  do  so  ? 

No,  in  despite  of  sense  and  secrecy, 

Unpeg  the  basket  on  the  house's  top, 

Let  the  birds  fly,  and,  like  the  famous  ape,° 

To  try  conclusions,0  in  the  basket  creep,  i95 

And  break  your  own  neck  down. 

Queen.    Be   thou    assur'd,    if    words    be    made    of 
breath, 

And  breath  of  life,  I  have  no  life  to  breathe 

What  thou  hast  said  to  me. 


scene  4]  HAMLET  117 

Hamlet.   I  must  to  England ;  you  know  that? 

Queen.  Alack, 

I  had  forgot.     'Tis  so  concluded  on.  201 

Hamlet.   There's  letters  seal'd ;  and  my  two  school- 
fellows, 
Whom  I  will  trust  as  I  will  adders  fang'd, 
They  bear  the  mandate ;  they  must  sweep  my  way, 
And  marshal  me  to  knavery.     Let  it  work ;  205 

For  'tis  the  sport  to  have  the  enginer0 
Hoist0  with  his  own  petar° ;  and't  shall  go  hard 
But  I  will  delve  one  yard  below  their  mines, 
And  blow  them  at°  the  moon :  O,  'tis  most  sweet, 
When  in  one  line  two  crafts0  directly  meet.  210 

This  man  shall  set  me  packing.0 
I'll  lug  the  guts  into  the  neighbour  room. 
Mother,  good  night.     Indeed  this  counsellor 
Is  now  most  still,  most  secret  and  most  grave, 
Who  was  in  life  a  foolish  prating  knave.  —  215 

Come,  sir,  to  draw  toward  an  end  with  you.  — 
Good  night,  mother. 

f  Exeunt  severally  ;  Hamlet  dragging  in  Polonius. 


118  HAMLET  [Act  IV. 

ACT  IV 

Scene  I.     A  Room  in  the  Castle 

Enter  King,  Queen,  Kosencrantz,  and  Guilden- 

stern 

King.    There's  matter  in  these  sighs;  these  profound0 
heaves 
You  must  translate.     'Tis  fit  we  understand  them. 
Where  is  your  sou  ? 

Queen.   Bestow  this  place  on  us  a  little  while. 

[Exeunt  Rosencrantz  and  Guildensteen. 
Ah,  my  good  lord,  what  have  I  seen  to-night !  5 

King.    What,  Gertrude  ?     How  does  Hamlet  ? 

(J a <'i>ii.    Mad  as  the  sea  and  wind,  when  both  contend 
Which  is  the  mightier.     In  his  lawless  fit, 
Behind  the  arras  hearing  something  stir, 
Whips  out  his  rapier,  cries,  "  A  rat,  a  rat,"  10 

Ami  in  this  brainish0  apprehension  kills 
The  unseen  good  old  man. 

King.  0  heavy  deed  ! 

It  had  been  so  with  us,  had  we  been  there. 
His  liberty  is  full  of  threats  to  all, 
To  you  yourself,  to  us,  to  every  one.  iS 


scenk  1]  HAMLET  119 

Alas,  how  shall  this  bloody  deed  be  answer'd0  ? 

It  will  be  laid  to  us,  whose  providence 

Should  have  kept  short,0  restrain' d  and  out  of  haunt, 

This  mad  young  man.     But  so  much  was  our  love, 

We  would  not  understand  what  was  most  fit,  20 

But,  like  the  owner  of  a  foul  disease, 

To  keep  it  from  divulging,0  let  it  feed 

Even  on  the  pith  of  life.     Where  is  he  gone  ? 

Queen.    To  draw  apart  the  body  he  hath  kill'd ; 
O'er  whom  his  very  madness,  like  some  ore0  25 

Among  a  mineral0  of  metals  base,0 
Shows  itself  pure.     He  weeps  for  what  is  done. 

King.    0  Gertrude,  come  away  ! 
The  sun  no  sooner  shall  the  mountains  touch, 
But  we  will  ship  him  hence  ;  and  this  vile  deed         30 
We  must,  with  all  our  majesty  and  skill, 
Both  countenance  and  excuse.  —  Ho,  Guildenstern  ! 

Reenter  Rosencrantz  and  Guildenstern 

Friends  both,  go  join  you  with  some  further  aid. 
Hamlet  in  madness  hath  Polonius  slain, 
And  from  his  mother's  closet  hath  he  dragg'd  him.    35 
Go  seek  him  out.     Speak  fair,  and  bring  the  body 
Into  the  chapel.     I  pray  you,  haste  in  this. 

[Exeunt  Rosencrantz  and  Guildenstern. 


120  HAMLET  [Act  IV 

Come,  Gertrude,  we'll  call  up  our  wisest  friends, 

And  let  them  know,  both  what  we  mean  to  do, 

And  what's  untimely  done ;  so,  haply  slander,  —       40 

Whose  whisper  o'er°  the  world's  diameter, 

As  level  as  the  cannon  to  his  blank,0 

Transports  his  poison'd  shot,  may  miss  our  name, 

And  hit  the  woundless  air.     0,  come  away ! 

My  soul  is  full  of  discord  and  dismay.  [Exeunt. 


Scene  II.  .  Another  Room  in  the  Castle 
Enter  Hamlet 

Hamlet.   Safely  stowed. 

Rosencrantz.    |    ^Withiyq    Hamlet !  Lord  Hamlet ! 
Guiklenstern.    )  J 

Hamlet.    What  noise  ?     Who  calls  on  Hamlet  ?     0, 

here  they  come. 

Enter  Rosencrantz  and  Guildenstern 

Rosencrantz.  What  have  you  done,  my  lord,  with 
the  dead  body  ?  5 

Hamlet.  Compounded  it  with  dust,  whereto  'tis 
kin. 

/ 


scene  2]  HAMLET  121 

Rosencrantz.    Tell  us  where  'tis,  that  we  may  take  it 
thence 
A.nd  bear  it  to  the  chapel. 

Hamlet.   Do  not  believe  it. 

Rosencrantz.    Believe  what  ?  10 

Hamlet.  That  I  can  keep  your  counsel  and  not  mine 
own.  Besides,  to  be  demanded  of  a  sponge,  what  repli- 
cation0 should  be  made  by  the  son  of  a  king  ? 

Rosencrantz.    Take  you  me  for  a  sponge,  my  lord  ? 

Hamlet.  Ay, sir, thatsoaksuptheking's  countenance,0 
his  rewards,  his  authorities.0  But  such  officers  do  the 
king  best  service  in  the  end.  He  keeps  them,  like  an  ape, 
in  the  corner  of  his  jaw,  first  mouthed,  to  be  last  swal- 
lowed. When  he  needs  what  you  have  gleaned,  it  is 
but  squeezing  you,  and,  sponge,  you  shall  be  dry  again. 

Rosencrantz.    I  understand  you  not,  my  lord.  21 

Hamlet.  I  am  glad  of  it :  a  knavish  speech  sleeps  in 
a  foolish  ear. 

Rosencrantz.  My  lord,  you  must  tell  us  where  the 
body  is,  and  go  with  us  to  the  king.  25 

Hamlet.  The  body  is  with  the  king,  but  the  king  is 
not  with  tiie  body.0     The  king  is  a  thing  — 

Guildenstern.    A  thing,  my  lord  ! 

Hamlet.  Of  nothing.  Bring  me  to  him.  Hide  fox, 
and  all  after."  [Exeunt. 


122  HAMLET  [Act  IV. 

Scene  III.     Another  Room  in  the  Castle 

Enter  King,  attended 

King.    I  have  sent  to  seek  him,  and  to  find  the  body. 
How  dangerous  is  it  that  this  man  goes  loose ' 
Yet  must  not  we  put  the  strong  law  on  him  ; 
He's  loved  of  the  distracted  multitude, 
Who  like  not  in  their  judgment,  but  their  eyes:  5 

And  where  'tis  so,  the  offender's  scourge0  is  weigh'd, 
But  never  the  offence.      To  bear  all  smooth  and  even, 
This  sudden  sending  him  away  must  seem 
Deliberate  pause.0     Diseases  desperate  grown 
By  desperate  appliance  are  reliev'd,  10 

Or  not  at  all. 

Enter  Bosencrantz 

How  now  !     What  hath  befalFn  ? 
Rosencrantz.    Where  the  dead  body  is  bestow'd,  my 
lord, 
We  cannot  get  from  him. 
King.  But  where  is  ne  ? 

Rosencrantz.    Without,  my  lord;  guarded,  to  know 

your  pleasure. 
King.    Bring  him  before  us.  15 

Rosencrantz.    Ho,  Guildenstern  !  Bring  in  my  lord. 


scene  3]  HAMLET  123 

Enter  Hamlet  and  Guildenstern 

King.   Now,  Hamlet,  where's  Polonius  ? 

Hamlet.   At  supper. 

King.   At  supper  !     Where  ?  rg 

Hamlet.  Not  where  he  eats,  but  where  he  is  eaten : 
a  certain  convocation  of  politic  worms0  are  e'en  at 
him.  Your  worm  is  your  only  emperor  for  diet.  We 
fat  all  creatures  else  to  fat  us,  and  we  fat  ourselves  for 
maggots.  Your  fat  king  and  your  lean  beggar  is  but 
variable  service,  two  dishes,  but  to  one  table ;  that's 
the  end. 

King.   Alas,  alas!  26 

Hamlet.  A  man  may  fish  with  the  worm  that  hath 
eat  of  a  king,  and  eat  of  the  fish  that  hath  fed  of  that 
worm 

King.  What  dost  thou  mean  by  this  ? 

Hamlet.  Nothing  but  to  show  you  how  a  king  may 
go  a  progress0  through  the  guts  of  a  beggar.  32 

King.    Where  is  Polonius  ? 

Hamlet.  In  heaven.  Send  thither  to  see.  If  your 
messenger  find  him  not  there,  seek  him  i'  the  other 
place  yourself.  But  indeed,  if  you  find  him  not  within 
this  month,  you  shall  nose  him  as  you  go  up  the  stairs 
into  the  lobby.  38 


124  HAMLET  [Act  IV. 

King.    Go  seek  him  there.         [To  some  Attendants. 

Hamlet.  He  will  stay  till  ye  come.  [Exeunt  Attendants 

King.    Hamlet,  this  deed,  for  thine  especial  safety,  — 
Which  we  do  tender,0  as  we  dearly  grieve 
For  that  which  thou  hast  done, — must  seniithee  hence 
With  fiery  quickness  ;  therefore  prepare  thyself. 
The  bark  is  ready,  and  the  wind  at  help,  45 

The  associates  tend,0  and  every  thing  is  bent 
For  England. 

Hamlet.  For  England ! 

King.  Ay,  Hamlet. 

Hamlet.  Good. 

King.    So  is  it,  if  thou  knew'st  our  purposes. 

Hamlet.  I  see  a  cherub  that  sees  them.0  But,  come ; 
for  England  !     Farewell,  dear  mother.  50 

King.    Thy  loving  father,  Hamlet. 

Hamlet.  My  mother ;  father  and  mother  is  man  and 
wife;  man  and  wife  is  one  flesh;  and  so,  my  mother. 
Come,  for  England  !  [Exit. 

King.    Follow  him  at  foot0;  tempt  nim  with  speed 
abroad.  55 

Delay  it  not.     I'll  have  him  hence  to-night. 
Away  !  for  every  thing  is  seal'd  and  done 
That  else  leans0  on  the  affair.     Pray  yon,  make  haste. 
[Exeunt  Kosenckaxtz  and  Guildenstern 


scene  4]  HAMLET  125 

And,  England,  if  my  love  thou  hold'st  at  aught  — 

As°  my  great  power  thereof  may  give  thee  sense,       6c 

Since  yet  thy  cicatrice  looks  raw  and  red 

After  the  Danish  sword,  and  thy  free  awe0 

Pays  homage  to  us  — thou  mayst  not  coldly  set° 

Our  sovereign  process  ;  which  imports  at  full, 

By  letters  conjuring  to  that  effect,  65 

The  present  death  of  Hamlet.     Do  it,  England ; 

For  like  the  hectic0  in  my  blood  he  rages, 

And  thou  must  cure  me.     Till  I  know  'tis  done, 

Howe'er  my  haps,0  my  joys  were  ne'er  begun.         lExit. 


Scene   IV.     A  Plain  iyi  Denmark 

Enter  Fortinbras,  a  Captain,  and  Soldiers,  marching 

Fortinbras.    Go,  captain,  from  me  greet  the  Danish 
king. 
Tell  him  that,  by  his  license,  Fortinbras 
Claims  the  conveyance0  of  a  promis'd  march 
Over  his  kingdom.     You  know  the  rendezvous. 
If  that  his  majesty  would  aught  with  us,  5 

We  shall  express  our  duty  in  his  eye ;° 
And  let  him  know  so. 


126  HAMLET  [ACT  IV. 

Captain.  I  will  do't,  my  lord. 

Fortinbras.   Go  softly  on. 

[Exeunt  Foktixbras  and  Soldiers. 

Enter   Hamlet,   Rosexcrantz,    Guildensterx,    and 

Others 

Hamlet.    Good  sir,  whose  powers  are  these  *? 

Captain.   They  are  of  Norway,  sir.  jo 

Hamlet.   How  purpos'd,  sir,  I  pray  you  ? 

Captain.   Against  some  part  of  Poland. 

Hamlet.    Who  commands  them,  sir  ? 

Captain.   The  nephew  to  old  Norway,  Fortinbras. 

Hamlet.    Goes  it  against  the  main0  of  Poland,  sir,  15 
Or  for  some  frontier  ? 

Captain.    Truly  to  speak,  and  with  110  addition, 
We  go  to  gain  a  little  patch  of  ground 
That  hath  in  it  no  profit  but  the  name. 
To  pay  five  ducats,  five,  I  would  not  farm  it  5  20 

Nor  will  it  yield  to  Norway  or  the  Pole 
A  ranker0  rate,  should  it  be  sold  in  fee. 

Hamb'f.    Why,  then  the  Polack  never  will  defend  it. 

Captain.   Yes,  it  is  already  garrisoned. 

Hamlet.    Two  thousand  souls  and  twentv  thousand 
ducats  25 

Will  not  debate  the  question  of  this  straw. 


sckne  4J  HAMLET  121 

This  is  the  imposthume0  of  much  wealth  and  peace, 
That  inward  breaks,  and  shows  no  cause  without 
Why  the  man  dies.  —  I  humbly  thank  you,  sir. 
Captain.    God  be  wi'  you,  sir.  [Exit, 

liosencrantz.  Will't  please  you  go,  my  lord  ?     30 

Hamlet.  I'll  be  with  you  straight-    Go  a  little  before. 

[Exeunt  all  except  Hamlet. 
How  all  occasions  do  inform  against  me, 
And  spur  my  dull  revenge  !     What  is  a  man, 
If  his  chief  good  and  market0  of  his  time 
Be  but  to  sleep  and  feed  ?     A  beast,  no  more.  35 

Sure,  he  that  made  us  with  such  large  discourse,0 
Looking  before  and  after,  gave  us  not 
That  capability  and  god-like  reason 
To  fust°  in  us  unused.     Now,  whether  it  be 
Bestial  oblivion,  or  some  craven  scruple  40 

Of°  thinking  too  precisely  on  the  event,  — 
A  thought  which,  quartered,  hath  but  one  part  wisdom 
And  ever  three  parts  coward,  I  do  not  know 
Why  yet  I  live  to  say  "  This  thing's  to  do," 
Sith°  I  have  cause  and  will  and  strength  and  means  45 
To  do't.     Examples  gross  as  earth  exhort  me. 
"Witness  this  army  of  such  mass  and  charge 
Led  by  a  delicate  and  tender  prince, 
Whose  spirit  with  divine  ambition  puff'd 


128  HAMLET  [Act  IV 

Makes  mouths0  at  the  invisible  event,  50 

Exposing  what  is  mortal  and  unsure 

To  all  that  fortune,  death  and  danger  dare, 

Even  for  an  egg-shell.     Rightly  to  be  great 

Is  not  to  stir  without  great  argument,0 

But  greatly  to  find  quarrel  in  a  straw  55 

When  honour's  at  the  stake.     How  stand  I  then, 

That  have  a  father  kill'd,  a  mother  stain'd, 

Excitements  of  my  reason  and  my  blood, 

And  let  all  sleep,  while,  to  my  shame,  I  see 

The  imminent  death  of  twenty  thousand  men,  6o 

That,  for  a  fantasy  and  trick  of  fame,0 

Go  to  their  graves  like  beds,  fight  for  a  plot0 

Whereon  the  numbers  cannot  try  the  cause, 

Which  is  not  tomb  enough  and  continent0 

To  hide  the  slain  ?     O,  from  this  time  forth,  65 

Mr  thoughts  be  bloody,  or  be  nothing  worth !       [Exit. 


Scene  V.     Elsinore.     A  Room  in  the  Castle 

Enter  Queen,  Horatio,  and  a  Gentleman 

Queen.   I  will  not  speak  with  her. 
Gentleman.    She  is  importunate,  indeed  distract 
Her  mood  will0  needs  be  piti'd. 


scene  5]  HAMLET  129 

Queen.  What  would  she  have  ? 

Gentleman.   She  speaks   much  of  her  father;  says 
she  hears 
There's  tricks  i'  the  world ;  and  hems,  and  beats  her 
heart ;  5 

Spurns  enviously0  at  straws  ;  speaks  things  in  doubt, 
That  carry  but  half  sense.     Her  speech  is  nothing, 
Yet  the  unshaped0  use  of  it  doth  move 
The  hearers  to  collection.0     They  aim  at  it, 
And  botch  the  words  up  fit  to  their  own  thoughts;     io 
Which,  as  her  winks,  and  nods,  and  gestures  yield  them, 
Indeed  would  make  one  think  there  might  be  thought, 
Though  nothing  sure,  yet  much  unhappily. 

Horatio.   'Twere    good   she  were  spoken   with ;  for 
she  may  strew 
Dangerous  conjectures  in  ill-breeding0  minds.  15 

Queen.   Let  her  come  in. —  [Exit  Horatio. 

To  my  sick  soul,  as  sin's  true  nature  is, 
Each  toy0  seems  prologue  to  some  great  amiss.0 
So  full  of  artless  jealousy0  is  guilt, 
It  spills  itself  in  fearing  to  be  spilt.  za 

Reenter  Horatio,  with  Ophelia 

Ophelia.  Where  is  thebeauteous  majesty  of  Denmark ? 
Queen.    How  now,  Ophelia ! 


130  HAMLET  [Act  IV. 

Ophelia.    [Sings']  How  should  I  your  true  love  know 
From  another  one  i 
By  his  cockle  hat°  and  staff,  25 

And  his  sandal  shoon. 
Queen.    Alas,  sweet  lady,  what  imports  this  soiiu  '.' 
Ophelia.    Say  you  ?     Nay,  pray  you,  mark. 
[Sings]        He  is  dead  and  gone,  lady, 

He  is  dead  and  gone;  30 

At  his  head  a  grass-green  turf, 
At  his  heels  a  stone. 
Queen.   Nay,  but,  Ophelia, — 
Ophelia.   Pray  you,  mark. 
[Sings]        White  his  shroud  as  the  mountain  snow,  —  35 

Enter  King 

Queen.   Alas,  look  here,  my  lord. 

Ophelia.    [Sings]     Larded0  ivith  sweet  flowers ; 
Which  beicept  to  the  grave  did  go 
With  time-love  showers. 

King.    How  do  you,  pretty  lady?  40 

Ophelia.  Well,  God  'ild°  you!  They  say  the  owl 
was  a  baker's  daughter.  Lord,  we  know  what  we  are, 
but  know  not  what  we  may  be.  God  be  at  your 
table ! 

King.   Conceit  upon0  her  father.  45 


scene  5]  HAMLET  131 

Ophelia.    Pray  you,  let's  have  no  words  of  this ;  but 
when  they  ask  you  what  it  means,  say  you  this : 
[Sings]         To-morrow  is  Saint  Valentine's  day, 
All  in  the  morning  betime, 
And  I  a  maid  at  your  window,  50 

To  be  your  Valentine. 

King.    Pretty  Ophelia! 

Ophelia.  Indeed,  la,  without  an  oath,  I'll  make  an 
end  on't. 

King.    How  long  hath  she  been  thus  ?  55 

Ophelia.  I  hope  all  will  be  well.  We  must  be 
patient ;  but  I  cannot  choose  but  weep,  to  think  they 
should  lay  him  i'  the  cold  ground.  My  brother  shall 
know  of  it ;  and  so  I  thank  you  for  your  good  counsel. 
Come,  my  coach!  Good  night,  ladies.  Good  night, 
sweet  ladies;  good  night,  good  night.  [Exit. 

King.  Follow  her  close;  give  her  good  watch,  I 
pray  you.  [Exit  Horatio. 

0,  this  is  the  poison  of  deep  grief ;  it  springs 
All  from  her  father's  death.     0  Gertrude,  Gertrude, 
When  sorrows  come,  they  come  not  single  spies,         66 
But  in  battalions.     First,  her  father  slain  ; 
Next,  your  son  gone;  and  he  most  violent  author 
Of  his  own  just  remove :  the  people  muddied, 
Thick  and  unwholesome0  in  their  thoughts  and  whispers, 


132  HAMLET  [Act  IV 

For  good  Polonius'  death;  and  we  have  done  but  greenly, 

In  hugger-mugger0  to  inter  him:  poor  Ophelia 

Divided  from  herself  and  her  fair  judgment, 

Without  the  which  we  are  pictures,  or  mere  beasts. 

Last,  and  as  much  containing  as  all  these,  75 

Her  brother  is  in  secret  come  from  France ; 

Feeds  on  his  wonder,  keeps  himself  in  clouds, 

And  wants  not  buzzers0  to  infect  his  ear 

With  pestilent  speeches  of  his  father's  death  ; 

Wherein0  necessity,0  of  matter  beggar'd,  80 

Willoiothing  stick0  our  person  to  arraign 

In  ear  and  ear.     0  my  dear  Gertrude,  this, 

Like  to  a  murdering-piece,0  in  many  places 

Gives  me  superfluous  death.  [A  noise  within. 

Queen.  Alack,  what  noise  is  this  ? 

King.    Where  are  my  Switzers0?     Let  them  guard 
the  door.  —  85 

Enter  another  Gentleman 

What  is  the  matter. 

Gentleman.  Save  yourself,  my  lord  ! 

The  ocean,  overpeering  of  his  list,0 
Eats  not  the  flats  with  more  impetuous  haste 
Than  young  Laertes,  in  a  riotous  head,0 
O'erbears  your  officers.     The  rabble  call  him  lord ;     90 


scene  5]  HAMLET  133 

And,  as  the  world  were  now  but  to  begin, 

Antiquity  forgot,  custom  not  known, 

The  ratifiers  and  props  of  every  word,0 

They  cry  "  Choose  we !     Laertes  shall  be  king !  " 

Caps,  hands,  and  tongues,  applaud  it  to  the  clouds,  — 

"  Laertes  shall  be  king,  Laertes  king !  "  96 

Queen.    How  cheerfully  on  the  false  trail  they  cry ! 
0,  this  is  counter,0  you  false  Danish  dogs  ! 

King.    The  doors  are  broke.  [Noise  within. 

Enter  Laertes  armed  ;  Danes  following 

Laertes.    Where  is  this  king?  —  Sirs,  stand  you  all 
without.  100 

Danes.   No,  let's  come  in. 

Laertes.  I  pray  you,  give  me  leave. 

Danes.  We  will,  we  will.   [They  retire  without  the  door. 
Laertes.    I   thank  you.     Keep   the    door.  —  0  thou 
vile  king, 
Give  me  my  father ! 

Queen.  Calmly,  good  Laertes. 

Laertes.    That  drop  of  blood  that's  calm  proclaims 
me  bastard,  105 

Cries  cuckold  to  my  father,  brands  the  harlot 
Even  here,  between  the  chaste  unsmirched  brow 
Of  my  true  mother. 


134  HAMLET  [Act  IV. 

King.  What  is  the  cause,  Laertes, 

That  thy  rebellion  looks  so  giant-like  ? 
Let  him  go,  Gertrude,  do  not  fear°  our  person.  no 

There'6  such  divinity  doth  hedge0  a  king, 
That  treason  can  but  peep  to  what  it  would, 
Acts  little  of  his  will.  —  Tell  me,  Laertes, 
Why  thou  art  thus  incens'd.  —  Let  him  go,  Gertrude.  — 
Speak,  man. 

Laertes.   Where  's  my  father  ? 

King.  Dead. 

Queen.  But  not  by  him. 

King.    Let  him  demand  his  fill.  n6 

Laertes.  How  came  he  dead  ?    I'll  not  be  juggled  with. 
To  hell,  allegiance  !     Vows,  to  the  blackest  devil ! 
Conscience  and  grace,  to  the  profoundest  pit ! 
I  dare  damnation.     To  this  point  I  stand,  120 

That  both  the  worlds  I  give  to  negligence, 
Let  come  what  comes ;  only  I'll  be  reveng'd 
Most  throughly0  for  my  father. 

King.  Who  shall  stay  you  '.' 

Laertes.    My  will,  not  all  the  world ; 
And  for  my  means,  I'll  husband  them  so  well,  125 

They  shall  go  far  with  little. 

King.  Good  Laertes, 

If  you  desire  to  know  the  certainty 


scene  5]  HAMLET  135 

Of  your  dear  father's  death,  is't  writ  in  your  revenge, 
That,  swoopstake,0  you  will  draw  both  friend  and  foe, 
Winner  and  loser  ?  130 

Laertes.    None  but  his  enemies. 

King.  Will  you  know  them  then  ? 

Laertes.    To  his  good  friends  thus  wide  I'll  ope  my 
arms; 
And  like  the  kind  life-rendering  pelican,0 
Repast  them  with  my  blood. 

King.  Why,  now  you  speak 

Like  a  good  child  and  a  true  gentleman.  135 

That  I  am  guiltless  of  your  father's  death, 
And  am  most  sensible0  iu  grief  for  it, 
It  shall  as  level0  to  your  judgment  pierce 
As  day  does  to  your  eye. 

Danes.    [  Within]  Let  her  come  in. 

Laertes.    How  now !     What  noise  is  that  ?  140 

Reenter  Ophelia 

0  heat,  dry  up  my  brains !     Tears  seven  times  salt, 

Burn  out  the  sense  and  virtue  of  mine  eye ! 

By  heaven,  thy  madness  shall  be  paid  by  weight, 

Till  our  scale  turn  the  beam.     0  rose  of  May 

Dear  maid,  kind  sister,  sweet  Ophelia !  145 

0  heavens  !     Is't  possible,  a  young  maid's  wits 


136  HAMLET  [Act  IV 

Should  be  as  mortal  as  an  old  man's  life  ? 

Nature  is  tine  in  love,  and  where  'tis  fine,0 

It  sends  some  precious  instance0  of  itself 

After  the  thing  it  loves.  150 

Ophelia.    [_Sings~\ 

They  bore  him  barefaced  on  the  bier  ; 
Hey  non  nonny,  nonny,  hey  nonny  ; 
And  in  his  grave  rain'd  many  a  tear.  — 
Fare  you  well,  my  dove ! 

Laertes.    Hadst  thou  thy  wits,  and  didst  persuade 
revenge,  155 

It  could  not  move  thus. 

Ophelia.  [Sings']  You  must  sing  Down  ct-down,  and 
you  call  him  a-doion-a.  0,  how  the  wheel  becomes  it! 
It  is  the  false  steward  that  stole  his  master's  daughter. 

Laertes.    This  nothing's  more  than  matter.  160 

Ophelia.  There's  rosemary,0  that's  for  remembrance ; 
pray,  love,  remember :  and  there  is  pansies,0  that's  for 
thoughts. 

Laertes.  A  document  in  madness,  thoughts  and  re- 
membrance fitted.  165 

Ophelia.  There's  fennel0  for  you,  and  columbines  °  ; 
there's  rue0  for  you;  and  here's  some  for  me.  We 
may  call  it  herb  of  grace  o'  Sundays.  0,  you  must 
wear  your  rue  with  a  difference.     There's  a  daisy.0     I 


scene  5]  HAMLET  137 

would  give  you  some  violets,0  but  they  withered  all 
when  ruy  father  died.  They  say  he  made  a  good 
end, —  172 

[king's]  For  bonny  sweet  Robin  is  all  my  joy.0 
Laertes.   Thought0  and  affliction,  passion,0  hell  itself, 
She  turns  to  favour0  and  to  prettiness.  175 

Ophelia.    [Sings]  And  will  he  not  come  again  1 
And  ivill  he  not  come  again  f 
No,  no,  he  is  dead  ; 
Go  to  thy  death-bed  ; 
He  never  will  come  again.  180 

His  beard  was  white  as  snoio, 
All  flaxen  ivas  his  poll. 
He  is  gone,  he  is  gone, 
And  ice  cast  away  moan  ; 
God  /ta'  mercy  on  his  soul  !  185 

And  of  all  Christian  souls,  I  pray  God.    God  be  wi'  ye. 
Laertes.    Do  you  see  this,  0  God  ?      [Exit  Ophelia. 
King.    Laertes,  I  must  commune  with  your  grief, 
Or  you  deny  me  right.     Go  but  apart, 
Make  choice  of  whom  your  wisest  friends  you  will,    190 
And  they  shall  hear  and  judge  'twixt  you  and  me. 
If  by  direct  or  by  collateral  hand 
They  find  us  touch'd,0  we  will  our  kingdom  give, 


138  HAMLET  [Act  IV. 

Our  crown,  our  life,  and  all  that  we  call  ours, 

To  you  in  satisfaction ;  but  if  not,  i9: 

Be  you  content  to  lend  your  patience  to  us, 

And  we  shall  jointly  labour  with  your  soul 

To  give  it  due  content. 

Laertes.  Let  this  be  so. 

His  means  of°  death,  his  obscure  burial  — 
No  trophy,  sword,  nor  hatchment0  o'er  his  bones,      200 
No  noble  rite  nor  formal  ostentation  — 
Cry  to  be  heard,  as  'twere  from  heaven  to  earth, 
That0  I  must  call't  in  question. 

King.  So  you  shall ; 

And  where  the  offence  is  let  the  great  axe  fall. 
I  pray  you,  go  with  me.  [Exeunt. 


Scene  VI.     Another  Boom  in  the  Castle 

Enter  Horatio  and  a  Servant 

Horatio.   What0  are  they  that  would  speak  with  me  '.' 
Servant.    Sailors,  sir.     They  say  they  have   letters 
for  you. 

Horatio.    Let  them  come  in.  [Exit  Servant. 

I  do  not  know  from  what  part  of  the  world  s 

I  should  be  greeted,  if  not  from  Lord  Hamlet 


scesb  6]  HAMLET  139 

Enter  Sailors 

First  Sailor.    God  bless  you,  sir. 

Horatio.   Let  him  bless  thee  too. 

First  Sailor.  He  shall,  sir,  an't  please  hiin.  There's 
a  letter  for  you,  sir.  It  comes  from  the  ambassador 
that  was  bound  for  England,  —  if  your  name  be  Horatio, 
as  I  am  let  to  know  it  is.  12 

Horatio.  [Reads']  "Horatio,  when  thou  shall  have 
overlooked  this,  give  these  fellows  some  means  to°  the 
king  :  they  have  letters  for  him.  Ere  we  were  tivo  days 
old  at  sea,  a  pirate  of  very  warlike  appointment  gave  us 
chase.  Finding  ourselves  too  slow  of  sail,  we  put  on  a 
compelled0  valour.  In  the  grapple  I  boarded  them  :  on 
the  instant  they  got  clear  of  our  ship0  ;  so  I  alone  became 
their  prisoner.  They  have  dealt  with  me  like  thieves  of 
mercy.  But  they  k?ieiv  what  they  did  ;  I  am  to  do  a  good 
turn  for  them.  Let  the  king  have  the  letters  I  have  sent, 
<tnd  repair  thou  to  me  with  as  much  speed  as  thou  wouldst 
jly  death.  I  have  words  to  speak  in  thine  ear  will  make 
thee  dumb  ;  yet  are  they  much  too  light  for  the  bore  of  the 
matter.  These  good  fellows  ivill  bring  thee  where  I  am. 
Rosencrantz  and  Guildenstern  hold  their  course  for 
England  ;  of  them  I  have  much  to  tell  thee.  Farewell. 
"He  that  thou  knowest  thine,  Hamlet." 


140  HAMLET  [Act  IV 

Come,  I  will  make  you  way  for  these  your  letters ;     3« 

And  do't  the  speedier,  that  you  may  direct  me 

To  him  from  whom  you  brought  them.  [Exeunt. 


ocene  VII.     Another  Room  in  the  Castle 
Enter  King  and  Laertes 

King.    Now  must  your  conscience  my  acquittance0 
seal, 
And  you  must  put  me  in  your  heart  for  friend, 
Sith  you  have  heard,  and  with  a  knowing  ear, 
That  he  which  hath  your  noble  father  slain 
Pursu'd  my  life. 

Laertes.  It  well  appears.     But  tell  me  5 

Why  you  proceeded  not  against  these  feats, 
So  crimeful  and  so  capital  in  nature, 
As  by  your  safety,  wisdom,  all  things  else, 
You  mainly  were  stirr'd  up. 

King.  O,  for  two  special  reasons, 

Which  may  to  you,  perhaps,  seem  much  unsinew'd,   10 
But   yet   to   me    they   are   strong.      The    queen   his 

mother 
Lives  almost  by  his  looks;  and  for  myself—- 


scene  7]  HAMLET  141 

My  virtue  or  my  plague,  be  it  either  which  — 

She's  so  conjunctive  to  my  life  and  soul, 

That,  as  the  star  moves  not  but  in  his  sphere,  15 

I  could  not  but  by  her.     The  other  motive, 

Why  to  a  public  count0  I  might  not  go, 

Is  the  great  love  the  general  gender0  bear  him, 

Who,  dipping  all  his  faults  in  their  affection, 

Would,  like  the  spring  that  turneth  wood  to  stone,     20 

Convert  his  gyves0  to  graces ;  so  that  my  arrows, 

Too  slightly  timber'd  for  so  loud  a  wind, 

Would  have  reverted  to  my  bow  again, 

And  not°  where  I  had  aim'd  them. 

Laertes.    And  so  have  I  a  noble  father  lost,  25 

A  sister  driven  into  desperate  terms,0 
Whose  worth,  if  praises  may  go  back  again,0 
Stood  challenger  on  mount0  of  all  the  age 
For  her  perfections.     But  my  revenge  will  come. 

King.    Break  not  your  sleep  for  that.     You  must  not 
think  30 

That  we  are  made  of  stuff  so  flat  and  dull 
That  we  can  let  our  beard  be  shook  with  danger, 
And    think    it    pastime.      You    shortly    shall    hear 

more. 
I  lov'd  your  father,  and  we  love  ourself ; 
And  that,  I  hope,  will  teach  you  to  imagine —  35 


142  HAMLET  [Act  IV. 

Enter  a  Messenger 

How  now  !  what  news  ? 

Messenger.  Letters,  my  lord,  from  Hamlet: 

This  to  your  majesty;  this  to  the  queen. 

King.    From  Hamlet !  who  brought  them  ? 

Messenger.    Sailors,  my  lord,  they  say ;  I  saw  them 
not: 
They  were  given  me  by  Claudio ;  he  receiv'd  them    40 
Of  him  that  brought  them. 

King.  Laertes,  you  shall  hear  them. 

Leave  us.  [Exit  Messenger. 

[Meads]  "High  and  mighty,  You  shall  know  lam  set 
naked  on  your  kingdom.  To-morrow  shall  I  beg  leave  to 
see  your  kingly  eyes,  when  I  shall,  first  asking  your  par- 
don thereunto,  recount  the  occasion  of  my  sudden  and 
more  strange  return.  Hamlet." 

What  should  this  mean  ?     Are  all  the  rest  come  back  ? 
Or  is  it  some  abuse,  and  no  such  thing? 

Laertes.    Know  you  the  hand  ? 

King.  'Tis  Hamlet's  character     "  Naked !  " 

And  111  a  postscript  here,  he  says  "  alone."  51 

Can  you  advise  me  ? 

Laertes.  I'm  lost  in  it,  my  lord.  But  let  him  come. 
It  warms  the  very  sickness  in  my  heart, 


scene  7]  HAMLET  143 

That  I  shall  live  and  tell  him  to  his  teeth,  55 

"Thus  didest  thou." 

King.  If  it  be  so,  Laertes  — 

As  how  should  it  be  so,  how  otherwise  ?  — 
Will  you  be  rul'd  by  me  ? 

Laertes.  Ay,  my  lord, 

So  you  will  not  o'errule  me  to  a  peace. 

King.    To  thine  own  peace.     If  he  be  now  return'd, 
As  checking  at°  his  voyage,  and  that  he  means  61 

No  more  to  undertake  it,  I  will  work  him 
To  an  exploit,  now  ripe  in  my  device, 
Under  the  which  he  shall  not  choose  but  fall ; 
And  for  his  death  no  wind  of  blame  shall  breathe,     65 
But  even  his  mother  shall  uncharge  the  practice0 
And  call  it  accident. 

Laertes.  My  lord,  I  will  be  rul'd ; 

The  rather,  if  you  could  devise  it  so 
That  I  might  be  the  organ. 

King.  It  falls  right. 

You  have  been  talk'd  of  since  your  travel  much,         70 
And  that  in  Hamlet's  hearing,  for  a  quality 
Wherein,  they  say,  you  shine.     Your  sum  of  parts 
Did  not  together  pluck  such  envy  from  him 
As  did  that  one,  and  that,  in  my  regard, 
Of  the  unworthiest  siege.0 


144  HAMLET  [Act  IV. 

Laertes.  What  part  is  that,  my  lord  ? 

King.    A  very  riband  in  the  cap  of  youth,  76 

Yet  needful  too  ;  for  youth  no  less  becomes 
The  light  and  careless  livery  that  it  wears 
Than  settled  age  his  sables  and  his  weeds,' 
Importing  health  and  graveness.     Two  months  since, 
Here  was  a  gentleman  of  Normandy.  81 

I've  seen  myself,  and  serv'd  against,  the  French, 
And  they  can  well  on  horseback ;  but  this  gallant 
Had  witchcraft  in't ;  he  grew  unto  his  seat ; 
And  to  such  wondrous  doing  brought  his  horse,  85 

As  he  had  been  incorps'd0  and  demi-natur'd 
With  the  brave  beast.     So  far  he  topp'd0  my  thought, 
That  I,  in  forgery0  of  shapes  and  tricks, 
Come  short0  of  what  he  did. 

Laertes.  A  Norman  was't  ? 

King.    A  Norman.  ge 

Laertes.   Upon  my  life,  Lamond. 

King.  The  very  same. 

Laertes.    I  know  him  well.     He  is  the  brooch  indeed 
And  gem  of  all  the  nation. 

King.    He  made  confession  of  you, 
And  gave  you  such  a  masterly  report  9S 

For  art  and  exercise  in  your  defence, 
And  lor  your  rapier  most  especially, 


scene  7]  HAMLET  145 

That  he  cried  out,  'twould  be  a  sight  indeed, 

If  one  could  match  you.     The  scrimers0  of  their  Ration, 

He  swore,  had  neither  motion,  guard,  nor  eye,  ioo 

If  you  oppos'd  them.     Sir,  this  report  of  his 

Did  Hamlet  so  envenom  with  his  envy 

That  he  could  nothing  do  but  wish  and  beg 

Your  sudden  coming  o'er,  to  play  with  him. 

Now,  out  of  this,  — 

Laertes.        •  What  out  of  this,  my  lord  ?     105 

King.    Laertes,  was  your  father  dear  to  you  ? 
Or  are  you  like  the  painting  of  a  sorrow, 
A  face  without  a  heart  ? 

Laertes.  Why  ask  you  this  ? 

King.    Not  that  I  think  you  did  not  love  your  father. 
But  that  I  know  love  is  begun  by  time,0  no 

And  that  I  see,  in  passages  of  proof,0 
Time  qualifies  the  spark  and  fire  of  it. 
There  lives  within  the  very  flame  of  love 
A  kind  of  wick  or  snuff  that  will  abate  it, 
And  nothing  is  at  a  like  goodness  still0 ;  115 

For  goodness,  growing  to  a  plurisy,0 
Dies  in  his  own  too-much.     That  we  would  do 
We   should  do  when  we  would ;    for   this   "  would " 

changes 
And  hath  abatements  and  delays  as  many 


146  HAMLET  [Act  IV. 

As  there  are  tongues,  are  hands,  are  accidents ;  120 

And  then  this  "should"  is  like  a  spendthrift  sigh,° 
That  hurts  by  easing.     But,  to  the  quick  o'  the  ulcer. 
Hamlet  comes  back  :  what  would  you  undertake, 
To  show  yourself  your  father's  son  in  deed,  124 

More  than  in  words  ? 

Laertes.  To  cut  his  throat  i'  the  church. 

King.    No  place,  indeed,  should  murder  sanctuarize ; 
Revenge  should  have  no  bounds.     But,  good  Laertes, 
Will  you  do  this,  keep  close  within  your  chamber. 
Hamlet  return'd  shall  know  you  are  come  home. 
We'll  put  on  those  shall  praise  your  excellence,         130 
And  set  a  double  varnish  on  the  fame 
The  Frenchman  gave  you,  bring  you  in  fine  together 
And  wager  on  your  heads.     He,  being  remiss, 
Most  generous  and  free  from  all  contriving, 
Will  not  peruse0  the  foils  ;  so  that,  with  ease,  135 

Or  with  a  little  shuffling,  you  may  choose 
A  sword  unbated,0  and  in  a  pass  of  practice0 
Requite  him  for  your  father. 

Laertes.  1  will  do't ; 

And,  for  that  purpose,  I'll  anoint  my  sword. 
I  bought  an  unction  of  a  mountebank,0  140 

So  mortal  that,  but  dip  a  knife  in  it, 
Where  it  draws  blood  no  cataplasm  so  rare, 


scene  7]  HAMLET  147 

Collected  from  all  simples0  that  have  virtue 
Under  the  moon,  can  save  the  thing  from  death 
That  is  but  scratch'd  withal.0     I'll  touch  my  point   145 
With  this  contagion,0  that,  if  I  gall  him  slightly, 
It  may  be  death. 

King.  Let's  further  think  of  this ; 

Weigh  what  convenience  both  of  time  and  means 
May  fit  us  to  our  shape.0     If  this  should  fail, 
And  that0  our  drift  look  through  our  bad  performance, 
'Twere  better  not  assay 'd.     Therefore  this  project    151 
Should  have  a  back  or  second,  that  might  hold, 
If  this  should  blast0  in  proof.     Soft !     Let  me  see. 
We'll  make  a  solemn  wager  on  your  cunnings,0 
I  ha't.  155 

When  in  your  motion  you  are  hot  and  dry  — 
As  make  your  bouts0  more  violent  to  that  end  — 
And  that  he  calls  for  drink,  I'll  have  prepar'd  him 
A  chalice  for  the  nonce,0  whereon  but  sipping, 
If  he  by  chance  escape  your  venom'd  stuck,0  160 

Our  purpose  may  hold  there. 

Enter  Queen 

How  now,  sweet  queen  ! 
Queen.    One  woe  doth  tread  upon  another's  heel, 
So  fast  they  follow.    Your  sister's  drown'd,  Laertes. 


148  HAMLET  [Act  IV. 

Laertes.   Drown'd  !     0,  where  ? 

Queen.    There  is  a  willow  grows  aslant  a  brook,     165 
That  shows  his  hoar  leaves0  in  the  glassy  stream. 
There  with  fantastic  garlands  did  she  come 
Of  crow-flowers,0  nettles,  daisies,  and  long  purples 
That  liberal0  shepherds  give  a  grosser  name, 
But  our  cold  maids  do  dead  men's  fingers  call  them. 
There,  on  the  pendent  boughs  her  coronet  weeds        171 
Clambering  to  hang,  an  envious  sliver0  broke; 
When  down  her  weedy  trophies,  and  herself 
Fell  in  the  weeping  brook.     Her  clothes  spread  wide, 
And,  mermaid-like,  awhile  they  bore  her  up :  175 

Which  time  she  chanted  snatches  of  old  tunes, 
As  one  incapable  of  her  own  distress 
Or  like  a  creature  native  and  indued0 
Unto  that  element.     But  long  it  could  not  be 
Till  that  her  garments,  heavy  with  their  drink,  180 

Pull'd  the  poor  wretch0  from  her  melodious  lay 
To  muddy  death. 

Laertes.  Alas,  then,  she  is  drown'd  ? 

Queen.    Drown'd,  drown'd. 

Laertes.    Too  much  of  water  hast  thou,  poor  Ophelia, 
And  therefore  I  forbid  my  tears.    But  yet  185 

l!  is  our  trick0;  nature  her  custom  holds, 
Let  shame  say  what  it  will.     When  these  are  gone, 


scene  1]  HAMLET  149 

The  woman  will  be  out.     Adieu,  my  lord. 
I  have  a  speech  of  fire,  that  fain  would  blaze, 
But  that  this  folly  douts°  it.  [Exit. 

King.  Let's  follow,  Gertrude : 

How  much  I  had  to  do  to  calm  his  rage !  191 

Now  fear  I  this  will  give  it  start  again ; 
Therefore  let's  follow.  [Exeunt. 


ACT  V 

Scene  I.     A  Churchyard 

Enter  two  Clowns,  with  spades,  etc. 

First  Clown.  Is  she  to  be  buried  in  Christian  burial 
that  wilfully  seeks  her  own  salvation0? 

Second  Clown.  I  tell  thee  she  is ;  and  therefore 
make  her  grave  straight.0  The  crowner0  hath  sat  on 
her,  and  finds  it  Christian  burial.  5 

First  Clown.  How  can  that  be,  unless  she  drowned 
herself  in  her  own  defence  ? 

Second  Clown.    Why,  'tis  found  so. 

First  Clown.  It  must  be  se  offendendo°  ;  it  cannot 
be  else.  For  here  lies  the  point :  if  I  drown  myself 
wittingly,  it  argues  an   act,  and  an   act  hath  three 


150  HAMLET  [Act  V 

branches  ;  it  h,  to  act,  to  do,  and  to  perform.  Argal,1 
she  drowned  herself  wittingly.  I3 

Second  Clown.    Nay,  but  hear  you,  goodrnan  del  ver,  — 

First  Clown.  Give  me  leave.  Here  lies  the  water ; 
good.  Here  stands  the  man ;  good.  If  the  man  go  to 
this  water,  and  drown  himself,  it  is,  will  he,  nill  he,° 
he  goes,  —  mark  you  that ;  but  if  the  water  come  to 
him  and  drown  him,  he  drowns  not  himself.  Argal, 
he  that  is  not  guilty  of  his  own  death  shortens  not 
his  own  life.  2I 

Second  Clown.    But  is  this  law? 

First  Clown.    Ay,  marry,  is't ;  crowner's  quest0  law. 

Second  Clown.  Will  you  ha'  the  truth  on't  ?  If  this 
had  not  been  a  gentlewoman,  she  should  have  been 
buried  out  o'  Christian  burial.  26 

First  Clown.  Why,  there  thou  say'st0;  and  the  more 
pity  that  great  folk  should  have  countenance  in  this 
world  to  drown  or  hang  themselves,  more  than  their 
even°-Gliristian.  Come,  my  spade.  There  is  no  ancient 
gentlemen  but  gardeners,  ditchers,  and  grave-makers ; 
they  hold  up°  Adam's  profession.  32 

Second  Clown.    Was  he  a  gentleman  ? 

First  Clown.    He  was  the  first  that  ever  bore  arms. 

Second  Clown.    Why,  he  had  none.  35 

First  Clown.   What,  art  a  heathen  ?     How  dost  thou 


scene  1]  HAMLET  151 

understand  the  Scripture  ?  The  Scripture  says  "Adam 
digged ;  "  could  he  dig  without  arms  ?  I'll  put  another 
question  to  thee.  If  thou  answerest  me  not  to  the 
purpose,  confess  thyself  —  40 

Second  Clown.   Go  to.° 

First  Clown.  What  is  he  that  builds  stronger  than 
either  the  mason,  the  shipwright,  or  the  carpenter  ? 

Second  Clown.  The  gallows-maker;  for  that  frame 
outlives  a  thousand  tenants.  45 

First  Clown.  I  like  thy  wit  well,  in  good  faith ;  the 
gallows  does  well.  But  how  does  it  well  ?  It  does  well 
to  those  that  do  ill.  Now  thou  dost  ill  to  say  the  gal- 
lows is  built  stronger  than  the  church.  Argal,  the 
gallows  may  do  well  to  thee.     To't  again,  come.  50 

Second  Cloivn.  "  Who  builds  stronger  than  a  mason, 
a  shipwright,  or  a  carpenter  ?  " 

First  Clown.   Ay,  tell  me  that,  and  unyoke.0 

Second  Clown.    Marry,  now  I  can  tell. 

First  Cloivn.   To't.  55 

Second  Clown.  Mass,  I  cannot  tell. 

Enter  Hamlet  and  Horatio,  at  a  Distance 

First  Clown.  Cudgel  thy  brains  no  more  about  it  ; 
for  your  dull  ass  will  not  mend  his  pace  with  beating ; 
and,  when  you  are  asked  this  question  next,  say  "  a 


152  HAMLET  [Act  V. 

grave-maker:"  the  houses  that  he  makes  last  tili 
doomsday.  Go,  get  thee  to  Yaughan. ;  °  fetch  me  a 
stoup0  of  liquor.  62 

[Exit  Second  Clown. 
\_He  digs,  and  sings. 
In  youth  when  I  did  love,  did  love, 

Methought  it  was  very  sweet, 
To  contract,  0,  the  time,  for,  ah.°  my  behove,      65 
0,  methought,  there  teas  nothing  meet. 
Hamlet.    Has  this  fellow  no  feeling  of  his  business, 
that  he  sings  at  grave-making  ? 

Horatio.    Custom  hath  made  it  in  him  a  property  of 
easiness.0  70 

Hamlet.    "lis  e'en  so.     The  hand  of  little  employ- 
ment hath  the  daintier  sense. 
First  Clown.     [Sings'] 

But  age,  with  his  stealing  steps, 
Hath  caught  me  in  his  clutch, 
And  hath  shipped  me  intil°  the  land,  75 

As  if  I  had  never  been  such. 

[Throivs  up  a  skull. 

Hamlet.    That  sknll  had  a  tongue  in  it,  and  could 

sing  once.     How  the  knave  jowls0  it  to  the  ground,  as 

if  it  were  Cain's  jaw-bone,  that  did  the  first  murder ! 

it  might  be  the  pate  of  a  politician,  which  this  ass  now 


scene  1]  HAMLET  153 

o'er-reaches ;  one  that  would  circumvent  God,  might 
it  not  ?  82 

Horatio.    It  might,  my  lord. 

Hamlet.  Or  of  a  courtier,  which  could  say  "  Good 
morrow,  sweet  lord !  How  dost  thou,  good  lord  '.'  *' 
This  might  be  my  lord  such-a-one,  that  praised  my 
lord  such-a-one's  horse,  when  he  meant  to  beg  it; 
might  it  not  ?  88 

Horatio.    Ay,  my  lord. 

Hamlet.  Why,  e'en  so ;  and  now  my  Lady  Worm's  ; 
chapless,  and  knocked  about  the  mazzard0  with  a  sex- 
ton's spade.  Here's  fine  revolution,  an  we  had  the 
trick  to  see't.  Did  these  bones  cost  no  more  the 
breeding,  but  to  play  at  loggats0  with  'em  ?  Mine 
ache  to  think  on't.  05 

First  Clown.    [Sings] 

A  pick-axe,  and  a  spade,  a  spade, 

For  and  a  shrouding  sheet ; 
0,  a  pit  of  clay  for  to  be  made 

For  such  a  guest  is  meet.  99 

[Throws  up  another  skull. 

Hamlet.  There's  another.  Why  may  not  that  be 
the  skull  of  a  lawyer?  Where  be  his  quiddits0  now, 
his  quillets,0  his  cases,  his  tenures,  and  his  tricks  ? 
Why  does  he  suffer  this  rude  knave   now  to    knock 


154  HAMLET  [Act  V. 

him  about  the  sconce0  with  a  dirty  shovel,  and  will 
not  tell  him  of  his  action  of  battery?  Hum!  This 
fellow  might  be  iu's  time  a  great  buyer  of  laud,  with 
his  statutes,0  his  recognizances,0  his  fines,  his  double 
vouchers,  his  recoveries.  Is  this  the  hue  of°  his  fines, 
and  the  recovery  of  his  recoveries,  to  have  his  fine 
pate  full  of  fine  dirt  ?  ^W'ill  his  vouchers  vouch  him 
no  more  of  his  purchases,  and  double  ones  too,  than 
the  length  and  breadth  of  a  pair  of  indentures0  ? 
The  very  conveyances  of  his  lands  will  hardly  lie  in 
this  box ;  and  must  the  inheritor  himself  have  no 
more,   ha?  115 

Horatio.    Not  a  jot  more,  my  lord. 

Hamlet.    Is  not  parchment  made  of  sheep-skins  ? 

Horatio.    Ay,  my  lord,  and  of  calf-skins  too. 

Hamlet.  They  are  sheep  and  calves  that  seek  out 
assurance0  in  that.  I  will  speak  to  this  fellow.  — 
Whose  grave's  this,  sirrah  ?  121 

First  Clown.    Mine,  sir. 

[Sings]   O,  a  pit  of  clay  for  to  be  made 
For  stick  a  guest  is  meet. 

Hamlet.   I  think  it  be  thine,  indeed,  for  thou  iiest  in't. 

First  Clown.  You  lie  out  on't,  sir,  and  therefore  it 
is  not  yours.  For  my  part,  I  do  not  lie  in't,  and  yet 
it  is  mine.  128 


scene  1]  HAMLET  155 

Hamlet  Thou  dost  lie  in't,  to  be  in't  and  say  it  is 
thine.  "lis  for  the  dead,  not  for  the  quick0;  there- 
fore thou  liest.  131 

First  Clown.  "lis  a  quick  lie,  sir ;  'twill  away  again, 
from  me  to  you. 

Hamlet.   What  man  dost  thou  dig  it  for  ? 

First  Clown.    For  no  man,  sir.  135 

Hamlet.    What  woman,  then? 

First  Clown.    For  none,  neither. 

Hamlet.    Who  is  to  be  buried  in't  ? 

First  Clown.  One  that  was  a  woman,  sir ;  but,  rest 
her  soul,  she's  dead.  14° 

Hamlet.  How  absolute0  the  knave  is!  We  must 
speak  by  the  card,  or  equivocation  will  undo  us.  By 
the  Lord,  Horatio,  these  three  years  I  have  taken  a 
note  of  it :  the  age  is  grown  so  picked  that  the  toe  of 
the  peasant  comes  so  near  the  heel  of  the  courtier,  he 
galls  his  kibe.° — How  long  hast  thou  been  a  grave-maker? 

First  Clown.  Of  all  the  days  i'  the  year,  I  came 
to't  that  day  that  our  last  king  Hamlet  overcame 
Fortinbras. 

Hamlet.    How  long  is  that  since  ?  15° 

First  Clown.  Cannot  you  tell  that  ?  Every  fool  can 
tell  that.  It  was  the  very  day  that  young  Hamlet  was 
born ;  he  that  is  mad  and  sent  unto  England. 


156  HAMLET  [Act  V 

Hamlet.    Ay,  marry,  why  was  he  sent  into  England? 

First  Clown.  Why,  because  he  was  mad.  He  shall 
recover  his  wits  there ;  or,  if  he  do  not,  it's  no  great 
matter  there.  157 

Hamlet.    Why? 

First  Clown.  'Twill  not  be  seen  in  him  there;  there 
the  men  are  as  mad  as  he.  160 

Hamlet.    How  came  he  mad  ? 

First  Clown.    Very  strangely,  they  say. 

Hamlet.    How,  strangely  ? 

First  Cloicn.    Faith,  e'en  with  losing  his  wits. 

Hamlet.    Upon  what  ground  ?  165 

First  Clown.  Why,  here  in  Denmark.  I  have  been 
sexton  here,  man  and  boy,  thirty  years. 

Hamlet.  How  long  will  a  man  lie  i'  the  earth  ere  he 
rot  ?  169 

First  Clown.  V  faith,  if  he  be  not  rotten  before  he 
die  —  as  we  have  many  pocky  corses  now-a-days  that 
will  scarce  hold  the  laying  in  —  he  will  last  you  some 
eight  year  or  nine  year.  A  tanner  will  last  you  nine 
year. 

Hamlet.    Why  he  more  than  another  ?  175 

First  Clown.  Why,  sir,  his  hide  is  so  tanned  with 
his  trade,  that  he  will  keep  out  water  a  great  while; 
and  your  water  is  a  sore  decayer  of  your  whoreson 


.scene  1]  HAMLET  157 

dead  body.  Here's  a  skull  now;  this  skull  has  lain 
in  the  earth  three  and  twenty  years.  1S0 

Hamlet.    Whose  was  it  ? 

First  Clown.  A  whoreson  mad  fellow's  it  was ;  whose 
do  you  think  it  was  ? 

Hamlet.    Nay,  I  know  not.  1S4 

First  Clown.  A  pestilence  on  him  for  a  mad  rogue  ! 
A'  poured  a  flagon  of  Rhenish  on  my  head  once.  This 
same  skull,  sir,  was  Yorick's  skull,  the  king's  jester. 

Hamlet.    This? 

First  Clown.    E'en  that.  189 

Hamlet.  Let  me  see.  [Takes  the  skull.']  Alas,  poor 
Yorick !  I  knew  him,  Horatio;  a  fellow  of  infinite 
jest,  of  most  excellent  fancy.  He  hath  borne  me  on 
his  back  a  thousand  times ;  and  now,  how  abhorred  in 
my  imagination  it  is  !  My  gorge  rises  at  it.  Here 
hung  those  lips  that  I  have  kissed  I  know  not  how 
oft.  —  Where  be  your  gibes  now  ?  Your  gambols  ? 
Your  songs  ?  Your  flashes  of  merriment,  that  were 
wont  to  set  the  table  on  a  roar?  Not  one  now,  to 
mock  your  own  grinning  ?  Quite  chop-fallen  ?  Now 
get  you  to  my  lady's  chamber,  and  tell  her,  let  her 
paint  an  inch  thick,  to  this  favour0  she  must  come  ; 
make  her  laugh  at  that. — Prithee,  Horatio,  tell  me 
one  thing.  203 


158  HAMLET  [Act  V. 

Horatio.    What's  that,  my  lord  ? 

Hamlet.  Dost  thou  think  Alexander  looked  o'  this 
fashion  i'  the  earth  ?  206 

Horatio.    E'en  so. 

Hamlet.   And  smelt  so  ?     Pah  ! 

[Puts  down  the  skull. 

Horatio.    E'en  so,  my  lord.  209 

Hamlet.  To  what  base  uses  we  may  return,  Horatio  ! 
Why  may  not  imagination  trace  the  noble  dust 
of  Alexander,  till  we  find  it  stopping  a  bung- 
hole? 

Horatio.  'Twere  to  consider  too  curiously,  to  con- 
sider SO.  215 

Hamlet.  No,  faith,  not  a  jot ;  but  to  follow  him 
thither  with  modesty  enough,  and  likelihood  to  lead 
it ;  as  thus :  Alexander  died,  Alexander  was  buried, 
Alexander  returneth  into  dust ;  the  dust  is  earth ;  of 
earth  we  make  loam  ;  and  why  of  that  loam,  whereto 
he  was  converted,  might  they  not  stop  a  beer- 
barrel  ?  222 

Imperious  Caesar,  dead  and  turn'd  to  clay, 

Might  stop  a  hole  to  keep  the  wind  away. 

0,  that  that  earth,  which  kept  the  world  in  awe, 

Should  patch  a  wall  to  expel  the  winter's  flaw0 ! 
But  soft !  But  soft !  Aside  !     Here  comes  the  king. 


scene  1]  HAMLET  159 

Enter  Priests,  etc.,  in  procession  ;  the  Corpse  of  Ophe- 
lia, Laertes  and  Mourners  following ;  King, 
Queen,  their  trains,  etc.  4 

The  Queen,  the  courtiers.  Who  is  this  they  follow, 
And  with  such  maimed0  rites  ?  This  doth  betoken 
The  corse  they  follow  did  with  desperate  hand  230 

Fordo  it  own  life.     'Twas  of  some  estate. 
Couch  we  awhile,  and  mark.       [Retiring  with  Horatio. 

Laertes.    What  ceremony  else  ? 

Hamlet.  That  is  Laertes, 

A  very  noble  youth :  mark. 

Laertes.    What  ceremony  else  ?  235 

First  Priest.    Her  obsequies  have  been  as  far  enlarg'd 
As  we  have  warrantise.0     Her  death  was  doubtful0 ; 
And,  but  that  great  command  o'ersways  the  order,0 
She  should  in  ground  unsanctifi'd  have  lodg'd 
Till  the  last  trumpet ;  for°  charitable  prayers,  240 

Shards,  flints  and  pebbles  should  be  thrown  on  her. 
Yet  here  she  is  allow'd  her  virgin  crants,0 
Her  maiden  strewments  and  the  bringing  home 
Of  bell  and  burial. 

Laertes.    Must  there  no  more  be  done  ? 

First  Priest.  No  more  be  done. 

We  should  profane  the  service  of  the  dead  246 


160  HAMLET  [Act  V 

To  sing  a  requiem  and  such  rest  to  her 
As  to  peace-parted  souls.0 

Laertes.  Lay  her  'i  the  earth. 

And  from  her  faif  and  unpolluted  flesh 
May  violets  spring!     I  tell  thee,  churlish  priest.       250 
A  ministering  angel  shall  my  sister  be, 
When  thou  liest  howling. 

Hamlet.  What,  the  fair  Ophelia  ! 

Queen.    Sweets  to  the  sweet.     Farewell ! 

[Scattering  flowers. 
I  hop'd  thou  shouldst  have  been  my  Hamlet's  wife ; 
I  thought  thy  bride-bed  to  have  deck'd,  sweet  maid. 
And  not  have  strew'd  thy  grave. 

Laertes.  0,  treble  woes      256 

Fall  ten  times  treble  on  that  cursed  head, 
Whose  wicked  deed  thy  most  ingenious0  sense 
Depriv'd  thee  of !     Hold  off  the  earth  awhile, 
Till  I  have  caught  her  once  more  in  mine  arms.         260 

[Leaps  info  the  grave. 
Now  pile  your  dust  upon  the  quick  and  dead, 
Till  of  this  flat  a  mountain  you  have  made, 
To  o'ertop  old  Pelion,0  or  the  skyish0  head 
Of  blue  Olympus. 

Hamlet.    [Advancing"]  What  is  he  whose  grief 
Bears  such  an  emphasis,  whose  phrase  of  sorrow      265 


scene  1]  HAMLET  161 

Conjures  the  wandering  stars,  and  makes  them  stand 

Like  wonder-wounded  hearers  ?     This  is  I, 

Hamlet  the  Dane.  [Leaps  into  the  grave 

Laertes.  The  devil  take  thy  soul ! 

[Grappling  with  him. 

Hamlet.   Thou  pray'st  not  well. 
I  prithee,  take  thy  fingers  from  my  throat,  270 

For,  though  I  am  not  splenitive0  and  rash, 
Yet  have  I  something  in  me  dangerous, 
Which  let  thy  wiseness  fear.     Hold  off  thy  hand! 

King.    Pluck  them  asunder. 

Queen.  Hamlet,  Hamlet ! 

All.    Gentlemen, — 

Horatio.  Good  my  lord,  be  quiet.         275 

[TJie  Attendants  part  them,  and  they  come  out  of  the 
grave. 

Hamlet.    Why,  I  will  fight  with  him  upon  this  theme 
Until  my  eyelids  will  no  longer  wag. 

Queen.    0  my  son,  what  theme  ? 

Hamlet.    I  lov'd  Ophelia ;  forty  thousand  brothers 
Could  not,  with  all  their  quantity  of  love,  280 

Make  up  my  sum.     What  wilt  thou  do  for  her  ? 

King.    O.  he  is  mad,  Laertes. 

Queen.    For  love  of  God,  forbear  him. 

Hamlet.   'Swounds,  show  me  what  thou'lt  do. 

M 


162  HAMLET  [Act  V. 

Woo't0   weep?     Woo't  fight?     Woo't   fast?     Woo't 
tear  thyself  ?  2S5 

Woo't  drink  up  eisel,°  eat  a  crocodile  ? 
I'll  do't.     Dost  thou  come  here  to  whine  ? 
To  outface  me  with  leaping  in  her  grave  ? 
Be  buried  quick  with  her,  and  so  will  I, 
And,  if  thou  prate  of  mountains,  let  them  throw       290 
Millions  of  acres  on  us,  till  our  ground, 
Singeing  his  pate  against  the  burning  zone, 
Make  Ossa  like  a  wart !     iSTay,  an  thou'lt  mouth, 
I'll  rant  as  well  as  thou. 

Queen.  This  is  mere  madness ; 

And  thus  awhile  the  fit  will  work  on  him.  295 

Anon,  as  patient  as  the  female  dove, 
When  that  her  golden  couplets  are  disclos'd,0 
His  silence  will  sit  drooping. 

Hamlet.  Hear  you,  sir. 

What  is  the  reason  that  you  use  me  thus  ? 
I  lov'd  you  ever.     But  it  is  no  matter;  300 

Let  Hercules  himself  do  what  he  may, 
The  cat  will  mew  and  dog  will  have  his  day.        [Exit. 

King.    I  pray  you,  good  Horatio,  wait  upon  him. 

[Exit  Horatio. 
[To  Laertes]  Strengthen  your  patience  in  our  last 
night's  speech. 


scene  2]  HAMLET  163 

We'll  put  the  matter  to  the  present  push.0  305 

Good  Gertrude,  set  some  watch  over  your  son. 

This  grave  shall  have  a  living0  monument. 

An  hour  of  quiet  shortly  shall  we  see ; 

Till  then,  in  patience  our  proceeding  be.  [Exeunt. 


Scene  II.     A  Hall  in  the  Castle 

Enter  Hamlet  and  Horatio 

Hamlet.    So  much  for  this,  sir.     Now  let  me  see  the 
other. 
You  do  remember  all  the  circumstance  ? 
Horatio.    Remember  it,  my  lord! 
Hamlet.    Sir,  in  my  heart  there  was  a  kind  of  fight- 
ing. 
That  would  not  let  me  sleep.     Methought  I  lay  5 

Worse  than  the  routines0  in  the  bilboes.0     Rashly, — 

And  prais'd  be  rashness  for  it,  let  us  know, 

Our  indiscretion  sometimes  serves  us  well, 

When  our  deep  plots  do  pall°  ;  and  that  should  teach 

us 
There's  a  divinity  that  shapes  our  ends,  ia 

Rough-hew  them  how  we  will. 

Horatio  That  is  most  certain. 


164  HAMLET  |Act  V. 

Hamlet.    Up  from  uiy  cabin, 
My  sea-gown  scarf  d°  about  me,  in  the  dark 
Grop'd  I  to  find  out  them;  had  my  desire, 
Finger'd  their  packet,  and  in  fine  withdrew  15 

To  mine  own  room  again,  making  so  bold, 
My  fears  forgetting  manners,  to  unseal 
Their  grand  commission  ;  where  I  found,  Horatio,  — 

0  royal  knavery  —  an  exact  command, 

Larded0  with  many  several  sorts  of  reasons  20 

Importing  Denmark's  health,  and  England's  too, 
With,  ho!  such  bugs0  and  goblins  in  my  life, 
That,  on  the  supervise,0  no  leisure  bated, 
No,  not  to  stay  the  grinding  of  the  axe, 
My  head  should  be  struck  off. 

Horatio.  Is't  possible  ?  25 

Hamlet.   Here's  the  commission.     Read  it  at  more 
leisure. 
But  wilt  thou  hear  me  how  I  did  proceed  ? 

Horatio    Z  beseech  you. 

Hamlet.    Being  thus  be-netted  round  with  villanies  — 
Ere  I  could  make  a  prologue  to  my  brains,  30 

They  had  begun  the  play  —  I  sat  me  down, 
Devis'd  a  new  commission,  wrote  it  fair. 

1  once  did  hold  it,  as  our  statists0  do, 

A  baseness  to  write  fair,  and  labour'd  much 


scene  2]  HAMLET  165 

How  to  forget  that  learning :  but,  sir,  now  35 

It  did  me  yeoman's  service.0     Wilt  thou  know 
The  effect  of  what  I  wrote  ? 

Horatio.  Ay,  good  my  lord. 

Hamlet.    An  earnest  conjuration  from  the  king, 
As  England  was  his  faithful  tributary, 
As  love  between  them  like  the  palm  might  nourish,  40 
As  peace  should  still  her  wheaten  garland  wear, 
And  stand  a  comma  'tween  their  amities, 
And  many  such-like  Ases°  of  great  charge, 
That,  on  the  view  and  knowing  of  these  contents, 
Without  debatement  further,  more  or  less,  4> 

He  should  the  bearers  put  to  sudden  death, 
Not  shriving-time°  allow'd. 

Horatio.  How  was  this  seal'd  ? 

Hamlet.   Why,  even  in  that  was  heaven  ordinant.0 
I  had  my  father's  signet  in  my  purse, 
Which  was  the  model  of  that  Danish  seal ;  50 

Folded  the  writ  up  in  form  of  the  other, 
Subscrib'd  it,  gave't  the  impression,  plac'd  it  safely, 
The  changeling  never  known.     Now,  the  next  day 
Was  our  sea-fight ;  and  what  to  this  was  sequent 
Thou  know'st  already.  55 

Horatio.    So    Guildenstern    and     Eosencrantz     go 
to't. 


166  HAMLET  [Act  V. 

Hamlet.    Why,  man,  they   did   make  love  to   this 
employment. 
They  are  not  near  my  conscience  ;  their  defeat 
Does  by  their  own  insinuation0  grow. 
'Tis  dangerous  when  the  baser  nature  comes  60 

Between  the  pass  and  fell  incensed  points 
Of  mighty  opposites. 

Horatio.  Why,  what  a  king  is  this ! 

Hamlet.   Does  It  not,  think'st  thee,  stand  me  now 
upon  — 
He  that  hath  kill'd  my  king  and  whor'd  my  mother, 
Popp'd  in  between  the  election  and  my  hopes,  65 

Thrown  out  his  angle  for  my  proper0  life, 
And  with  such  cozenage  —  is't  not  perfect  conscience, 
To  quit  him  with  this  arm  ?   And  is't  not  to  be  damn'd, 
To  let  this  canker  of  our  nature  come 
In  further  evil  ?  7o 

Horatio.    It  must  be  shortly  known   to   him    from 
England 
What  is  the  issue  of  the  business  there. 

Hamlet.    It  will  be  short.     The  interim  is  mine, 
And  a  man's  life's  no  more  than  to  say  "  One." 
But  I  am  very  sorry,  good  Horatio,  75 

That  to  Laertes  I  forgot  myself; 
For,  by  the  image  of  my  cause,  I  see 


scene  2]  HAMLET  167 

The  portraiture  of  his.     I'll  court  his  favours. 

But,  sure,  the  bravery0  of  his  grief  did  put  me  79 

Into  a  towering  passion. 

Horatio.  Peace !     Who  conies  here  ? 

Enter  Oskic 

Osric.  Your  lordship  is  right  welcome  back  to  Den- 
mark. 

Hamlet.  I  humbly  thank  you,  sir.  [Aside  to 
Horatio]     Dost  know  this  water-fly  ? 

Horatio.    [Aside  to  Hamlet]  No,  my  good  lord. 

Hamlet.  [Aside  to  Horatio]  Thy  state  is  the  more 
gracious ;  for  'tis  a  vice  to  know  him.  He  hath  much 
land,  and  fertile.  Let  a  beast  be  lord  of  beasts,  and 
his  crib  shall  stand  at  the  king's  mess.  'Tis  a  chough0; 
but,  as  I  say,  spacious  in  the  possession  of  dirt.  90 

Osric.  Sweet  lord,  if  your  lordship  were  at  leisure, 
I  should  impart  a  thing  to  you  from  his  majesty 

Hamlet.  I  will  receive  it,  sir,  with  all  diligence  of 
spirit.  Put  your  bonnet  to  his  right  use;  'tis  for  the 
head. 

Osric.    I  thank  your  lordship  ;  it  is  very  hot. 

Hamlet.  No,  believe  me,  'tis  very  cold  ;  the  wind  is 
northerly. 

Osric.   It  is  indifferent  cold,  my  lord,  indeed.  99 


168  HAMLET  [Act  V 

Hamlet.  But  yet  methinks  it  is  very  sultry  and  hot 
for  my  complexion. 

Osric.  Exceedingly,  my  lord ;  it  is  very  sultry,  —  as 
'twere,  I  cannot  tell  how.  But,  my  lord,  his  majesty 
bade  me  signify  to  you  that  he  has  laid  a  great  wager 
on  your  head.     Sir,  this  is  the  matter,  —  105 

Hamlet.   I  beseech  you,  remember, — 

[Hamlet  moves  him  to  put  on  his  hat. 

Osric.  Nay,  good  my  lord ;  for  mine  ease,  in  good 
faith.  Sir,  here  is  newly  come  to  court  Laertes ; 
believe  me,  an  absolute  gentleman,  full  of  most  excellent 
differences,0  of  very  soft  society  and  great  showing.0 
Indeed,  to  speak  feelingly0  of  him,  he  is  the  card  or 
calendar  of  gentry,  for  you  shall  find  in  him  the  con- 
tinent0 of  what  part  a  gentleman  would  see.  113 

Hamlet.  Sir,  his  definement0  suffers  no  perdition  in 
you ;  though,  I  know,  to  divide  him  inventorially 
would  dizzy  the  arithmetic  of  memory,  and  yet  but 
yaw°  neither,  in  respect  of  his  quick  sail.  But,  in  the 
verity  of  extolment,  I  take  him  to  be  a  soul  of  great 
article0;  and  his  infusion  of  such  dearth  and  rareness, 
as,  to  make  true  diction  of  him,  his  semblable0  is  his 
mirror ;  and  who  else  would  trace  him,  his  umbrage, 
nothing  more.  122 

Osric.    Your  lordship  speaks  most  infallibly  of  him. 


scene  2]  HAMLET  169 

Hamlet.  The  concernancy,0  sir?  why  do  we  wrap 
the  gentleman  in  our  more  rawer  breath  ?  125 

Osric.    Sir  ? 

Horatio.  Is't  not  possible  to  understand  in  another 
tongue  ?     You  will  do't,  sir,  really. 

Hamlet.  What  imports  the  nomination0  of  this 
gentleman?  130 

Osric.    Of  Laertes? 

Horatio.  [Aside  to  Hamlet]  His  purse  is  empty 
already ;  all's  golden  words  are  spent. 

Hamlet.    Of  him,  sir. 

Osric.    I  know  you  are  not  ignorant  —  135 

Hamlet.  I  would  you  did,  sir ;  yet,  in  faith,  if 
you  did,  it  would  not  much  approve  me.  Well, 
sir? 

Osric.  You  are  not  ignorant  of  what  excellence 
Laertes  is  —  140 

Hamlet.  I  dare  not  confess  that,  lest  I  should  com- 
pare with  him  in  excellence  ;  but,  to  know  a  man  well, 
were  to  know  himself. 

Osric.  I  mean,  sir,  for  his  weapon;  but  in  the 
imputation  laid  on  him  by  them,  in  his  meed  he's 
unfellowed.  146 

Hamlet.   What's  his  weapon  ? 

Osric.   Rapier  and  dagger.0 


170  HAMLET  [Act  V. 

Hamlet    That's  two  of  his  weapons ;  but,  well. 

Osric.  The  king,  sir,  hath  wagered  with  him  six 
Barbary  horses,  against  the  which  he  has  imponed,0  as 
I  take  it,  six  French  rapiers  and  poniards,  with  their 
assigns,0  as  girdle,  hangers,  and  so.  Three  of  the 
carriages,  in  faith,  are  very  dear  to  fancy,  very 
responsive  to  the  hilts,  most  delicate  carriages,  and  of 
very  liberal  conceit.0  156 

Hamlet.    What  call  you  the  carriages  ? 

Horatio.  I  knew  you  must  be  edified  by  the  margent 
ere  you  had  done. 

Osric.   The  carriages,  sir,  are  the  hangers.0  160 

Hamlet.  The  phrase  would  be  more  germane  to  the 
matter,  if  we  could  carry  cannon  by  our  sides  ;  I  would 
it  might  be  hangers  till  then.  But,  on.  Six  Barbary 
horses  against  six  French  swords,  their  assigns,  and 
three  liberal-conceited  carriages  ;  that's  the  French  bet 
against  the  Danish.  Why  is  this  "  imponed,"  as  you 
call  it?  167 

Osric.  The  king,  sir,  hath  laid,  that  in  a  dozen 
passes0  between  yourself  and  him,  he  shall  not  exceed 
you  three  hits.  He  hath  laid  on  twelve  for  nine,0  and 
it  would  come  to  immediate  trial,  if  your  lordship 
would  vouchsafe  the  answer.  172 

Hamlet.    How  if  I  answer  No  ci 


scene  2J  HAMLET  171 

Osric.  I  mean,  my  lord,  the  opposition  of  your 
person  in  trial.  175 

Hamlet.  Sir,  I  will  walk  here  in  the  hall.  If  it 
please  his  majesty,  'tis  the  breathing  time  of  clay  with 
me.  Let  the  foils  be  brought,  the  gentleman  willing, 
and  the  king  hold  his  purpose,  I  will  win  for  him  if  I 
can  ;  if  not,  I  will  gain  nothing  but  my  shame  and  the 
odd  hits.  1S1 

Osric.    Shall  I  re-deliver  you  e'en  so  ? 

Hamlet.  To  this  effect,  sir ;  after  what  flourish  your 
nature  will. 

Osric.    I  commend  my  duty  to  your  lordship.  185 

Hamlet.  Yours,  yours.  [Exit  Osric]  He  does  well 
to  commend  it  himself;  there  are  no  tongues  else  for's 
turn. 

Horatio.  This  lapwing  runs  away  with  the  shell  on 
his  head.0  190 

Hamlet.  He  did  comply  with0  his  dug,  before  he 
sucked  it.  Thus  has  he  —  and  many  more  of  the  same 
bevy  that  I  know  the  drossy  age  dotes  on  —  only  got 
the  tune  of  the  time  and  outward  habit  of  encounter ; 
a  hind  of  yesty°  collection,  which  carries  them  through 
and  through  the  most  fond  and  winnowed0  opinions ; 
and  do  but  blow  them  to  their  trial,  the  bubbles  are 
cut.  198 


172  HAMLET  [Act  V. 

Enter  a  Lord 

Lord.  My  lord,  his  majesty  commended  him  to 
you  by  young  Osric,  who  brings  back  to  him,  that  you 
attend  him  in  the  hall.  He  sends  to  know  if  your 
pleasure  hold  to  play  with  Laertes,  or  that  you  will 
take  longer  time.  203 

Hamlet.  I  am  constant  to  my  purposes ;'  they  follow 
the  king's  pleasure.  If  his  fitness  speaks,  mine  is 
ready ;  now  or  whensoever,  provided  I  be  so  able  as 
now.  207 

Lord.    The  king  and  queen  and  all  are  coining  down. 

Hamlet.   In  happy  time. 

Lord.  The  queen  desires  you  to  use  some  gentle  en- 
tertainment to  Laertes  before  you  fall  to  play.  211 

Hamlet.    She  well  instructs  me.  [Exit  Lord. 

Horatio.    You  will  lose  this  wager,  my  lord. 

Hamlet.  I  do  not  think  so.  Since  he  went  into 
France,  I  have  been  in  continual  practice.  I  shall  win 
at  the  odds.°  But  thou  wouldst  not  think  how  ill  all's 
here  about  my  heart,  but  it  is  no  matter.  217 

Horatio.    Nay,  good  my  lord,  — 

Hamlet.  It  is  but  foolery ;  but  it  is  such  a  kind  of 
gain-giving0  as  would  perhaps  trouble  a  woman.        220 

Horatio.    If  your  mind  dislike  any  thing,  obey  it.     I 


scene  2]  HAMLET  173 


will  forestal  their  repair  hither,  and  say  you  are  not 
fit.°  22; 

Hamlet.  Not  a  whit,  we  defy  augury.  There's  a 
special  providence  in  the  fall  of  a  sparrow.  If  it  be 
now,  'tis  not  to  come;  if  it  be  not  to  come,  it  will  be 
now;  if  it  be  not  now,  yet  it  will  come.  The  readiness 
is  all.  Since  no  man  has  aught  of  what  he  leaves, 
what  is't  to  leave  betimes  ?  229 

Enter  King,  Queen-,  Laertes,  Lords,  Osric,  and  At- 
tendants with  foils,  etc. 

King.    Come,  Hamlet,  come,  and  take  this  hand  from 
me. 

\Tlie  King  puts  Laertes'  hand  into  Hamlet's. 
Hamlet.    Give  me  your  pardon,  sir.     I've  done  you 
wrong.  231 

But  pardon't,  as  you  are  a  gentleman. 
This  presence  knows, 

And  you  must  needs  have  heard,  how  I  am  punishM 
With  sore  distraction.     What  I  have  done,  235 

That  might  your  nature,  honour  and  exception 
Roughly  awake,  I  here  proclaim  was  madness. 
Was't  Hamlet  wrong'd  Laertes  ?     Never  Hamlet. 
If  Hamlet  from  himself  be  ta'en  away, 
And  when  he's  not  himself,  does  wrong  Laertes,       240 


174  HAMLET  [Act  V 

Then  Hamlet  does  it  not,  Hamlet  denies  it. 

Who  does  it,  then?     His  madness.     If't  be  so, 

Hamlet  is  of  the  faction  that  is  wrong'd ; 

His  madness  is  poor  Hamlet's  enemy. 

Sir,  in  this  audience,  245 

Let  my  disclaiming  from0  a  purpos'd  evil 

Free  me  so  far  in  your  most  generous  thoughts, 

That  I  have  shot  mine  arrow  o'er  the  house, 

And  hurt  my  brother. 

Laertes.  I  am  satisfi'd  in  nature, 

Whose  motive,  in  this  case,  should  stir  me  most        250 
To  my  revenge.     But  in  my  terms  of  honour 
I  stand  aloof,  and  will  no  reconcilement, 
Till  by  some  elder  masters,  of  known  honour, 
I  have  a  voice0  and  precedent  of  peace, 
To  keep  my  name  ungor'd.     But  till  that  time,         255 
I  do  receive  your  offer'd  love  like  love, 
And  will  not  wrong  it. 

Hamlet.  I  embrace  it  freely, 

And  will  this  brother's  wager  frankly  play. 
Give  us  the  foils.     Come  on. 

Laertes.  Come,  one  for  me. 

Hamlet.  I'll  be  your  foil,0  Laertes ;  in  mine  ignorance 
Your  skill  shall,  like  a  star  i'  the  darkest  night,  261 
Stick  fiery  off  indeed. 


scene  2]  HAMLET  175 

Laertes.  You  mock  me,  sir. 

Hamlet.    No,  by  this  hand. 

King.    Give  them  the  foils,  young  Osric.      Cousin 
Hamlet, 
You  know  the  wager  ? 

Hamlet.  Very  well,  my  lord,  265 

Your  grace  hath  laid  the  odds0  o'  the  weaker  side. 

King.    I  do  not  fear  it ;  I  have  seen  you  both. 
But  since  he  is  better'd,0  we  have  therefore  odds. 

Laertes.   This  is  too  heavy ;  let  me  see  another. 

Hamlet.    This  likes  me  well.     These  foils  have  all  a 
length  ?  [  They  prepare  to  play. 

Osric.    Ay,  my  good  lord.  271 

King.    Set  me  the  stoups  of  wine  upon  that  table. 
If  Hamlet  give  the  first  or  second  hit, 
Or  quit  in  answer  of  the  third  exchange, 
Let  all  the  battlements  their  ordnance  fire.  275 

The  king  shall  drink  to  Hamlet's  better  breath ; 
And  in  the  cup  an  union0  shall  he  throw, 
Richer  than  that  which  four  successive  kings 
In    Denmark's    crown    have    worn.       Give    me    the 

cups ; 
And  let  the  kettle0  to  the  trumpet  speak,  280 

The  trumpet  to  the  cannoneer  without, 
The  cannons  to  the  heavens,  the  heavens  to  earth, 


176  HAMLET  [Act  V. 

•  Now  the  king  drinks  to  Hamlet/'     Come,  begin; 
And  you,  the  judges,  bear  a  wary  eye. 

Hamlet.   Come  on,  sir. 

Laertes.  Come,  my  lord.         [  They  play. 

Hamlet.  One. 

Laertes.  No. 

Hamlet.  Judgment. 

( )sric.    A  hit,  a  very  palpable  hrt. 

Laertes.  Well;  again. 

King.    Stay  ;  give  me  drink.     Hamlet,  this  pearl  is 
thine.  287 

Here's  to  thy  health. 

[Trumpets  sound,  and  cannon  shot  off  within. 
(rive  him  the  cup. 

Hamlet.    I'll  play  this  bout  first.     Set  it  by  awhile. 
Come.     \_Tliey  play.~\     Another  hit ;  what  say  you  '.' 

Laertes.    A  touch,  a  touch,  I  do  confess.  201 

King.    Our  son  shall  win. 

Queen.  He's  fat,  and  scant  of  breath. 

Here,  Hamlet,  take  my  napkin,0  rub  thy  brows. 
The  queen  carouses0  to  thy  fortune,  Hamlet. 

Hamlet.    Good  madam  ! 

King.  Gertrude,  do  not  drink. 

Queen.    T  will,  my  lord ;   I  pray  you,  pardon  me.    2^ 

King.    \_Aside~\  It  is  the  poison'd  cup.     It  is  too  late. 


scene  2]  HAMLET  177 

Hamlet.    I  dare  not  drink  yet,  madam  ;  by  and  by. 

Queen.    Come,  let  me  wipe  thy  face. 

Laertes.    My  lord,  I'll  hit  him  now. 

King.  I  do  not  think't. 

Laertes.    [Aside\  And  yet  'tis  almost  'gainst  my  con- 
science. 3oi 

Hamlet.  Come,  for  the  third,  Laertes.    You  but  dally. 
I  pray  yon,  pass  with  your  best  violence. 
I  am  afeard  you  make  a  wanton0  of  me. 

Laertes.    Say  you  so?     Come  on.  [They  ploy. 

Osric.  Nothing,  neither  way.     305 

Laertes.    Have  at  you  now  ! 

[Laertes  wounds  Hamlet;  then,,  in  scuffling,  then 
change  rapiers,  and  Hamlet  wounds  Laertes. 

King.  Part  them  ;  the}^  are  incens'd. 

Hamlet.   Nay,  come,  again.  [The  Queen  falls. 

Osric.  Look  to  the  queen  there,  ho ! 

Horatio.    They  bleed  on  both  sides.     How  is  it,  my 
lord  ? 

Osric.    How  is't,  Laertes  ? 

Laertes.    Why,  as  a  woodcock  to  mine  own  springe,0 
Osric.  3IC 

I  am  justly  kill'd  with  mine  own  treachery. 

Hamlet.   How  does  the  queen  ? 

King.  She  swounds  to  see  them  bleed 

N 


178  HAMLET  [Act  V. 

Queen.    No,  no,  the  drink,  the  drink,  —  0  my  dear 
Hamlet,  — 
The  drink,  the  drink  !     I  am  poison'd.  \_Diesi 

Hamlet.    0  villany!     Ho!  let  the  door  be  lock'd.  315 
Treachery  !     Seek  it  out. 

Laertes.    It   is    here,    Hamlet.      Hamlet,   thou    art 
slain. 
No  medicine  in  the  world  can  do  thee  good. 
In  thee  there  is  not  half  an  hour  of  life. 
The  treacherous  instrument  is  in  thy  hand,  320 

Unbated  and  envenom'd.     The  foul  practice 
Hath  turn'd  itself  on  me.     Lo,  here  I  lie, 
Never  to  rise  again.     Thy  mother's  poison'd. 
I  can  no  more  :  the  king,  the  king's  to  blame. 

Hamlet.   The  point !  —  envenom'd  too  !  325 

Then,  venom,  to  thy  work.  [Stabs  the  King. 

All.    Treason!  treason! 

King.    0,  yet  defend  me,  friends ;  I  am  but  hurt. 

Hamlet.    Here,  thou  incestuous,  murderous,  damned 
Dane, 
Drink  off  this  potion.     Is  thy  union  here  ?  330 

Follow  my  mother.  [King  dies. 

Laertes.  He  is  justly  served  ; 

It  is  a  poison  temper'd0  by  himself. 
Exchange  forgiveness  Avith  me,  noble  Hamlet. 


scene  2!  HAMLET  179 

Mint  and  my  father's  death  come  not  upon  tnee, 
Nor  thine  on  me  !  [Dies. 

Hamlet.    Heaven  make  thee  free  of  it !    I  follow  thee. 
T  am  dead,  Horatio.     Wretched  queen,  adieu  !  337 

You  that  look  pale  and  tremble  at  this  chance, 
That  are  but  mutes  or  audience  to  this  act. 
Had  I  but  time  —  as  this  fell0  sergeant,  death,  340 

Is  strict  in  his  arrest  —  0,  I  could  tell  you  — 
But  let  it  be.     Horatio,  I  am  dead  ; 
Thou  livest.     Report  me  and  my  cause  aright 
To  the  unsatisfied. 

Horatio.  Never  believe  it. 

I  am  more  an  antique  Roman  than  a  Dane.  345 

Here's  yet  some  liquor  left. 

Hamlet.  As  thou'rt  a  man, 

Give  me  the  cup  !     Let  go !     By  heaven,  I'll  have't. 
O  good  Horatio,  what  a  wounded  name, 
Things  standing  thus  unknown,  shall  live  behind  me  ! 
If  thou  didst  ever  hold  me  in  thy  heart,  350 

Absent  thee  from  felicity  awhile, 
And  in  this  harsh  world  draw  thy  breath  in  pain, 
To  tell  my  story.  [March  afar  off,  and  shot  within. 

What  warlike  noise  is  this  ? 

Osric.    Young  Fortinbras,  with  conquest  come  from 
Poland, 


180  HAMLET  [Act  V 

To  the  ambassadors  of  England  gives  355 

This  warlike  volley. 

Hamlet.  0,  I  die,  Horatio. 

The  potent  poison  quite  o'ercrows0  my  spirit. 
I  cannot  live  to  hear  the  news  from  England ; 
But  I  do  prophesy  the  election  lights 
<  )n  Fortinbras.     He  has  my  dying  voice.0  360 

So  tell  him,  with  the  occurrents,0  more  and  less, 
Which  have  solicited.     The  rest  is  silence.  [Dies. 

Horatio.    Now  cracks  a  noble  heart.     Good  night, 
sweet  prince, 
And  flights  of  angels  sing  thee  to  thy  rest !  364 

Why  does  the  drum  come  hither?  [March  within. 

Enter    Fortinbras,    the   English   Ambassadors,   and 

others 

Fortinbras.    Where  is  this  sight? 

Horatio.  What  is  it  ye  would  see  ? 

If  aught  of  woe  or  wonder,  cease  your  search. 

Fortinbras.    This  quarry  cries  on  havoc.0     0  proud 
death, 
What  feast  is  toward0  in  thine  eternal  cell, 
That  thou  so  many  princes  at  a  shot  37c 

So  bloodily  hast  struck  ? 

First  Ambassador.  The  sight  is  dismal, 


scene  2]  HAMLET  i  181 

And  our  affairs  from  England  come  too  late. 

The  ears  are  senseless  that  should  give  us  hearing, 

To  tell  him  his  commandment  is  fulfilled, 

That  Rosencrantz  and  Guilclenstern  are  dead.  375 

Where  should  we  have  our  thanks  ? 

Horatio.  Not  from  his  mouth. 

Had  it  the  ability  of  life  to  thank  you. 
He  never  gave  commandment  for  their  death. 
But  since,  so  jump  upon0  this  bloody  question, 
You  from  the  Polack  wars,  and  you  from  England,  380 
Are  here  arriv'd,  give  order  that  these  bodies 
High  on  a  stage  be  placed  to  the  view ; 
And  let  me  speak  to  .the  yet  unknowing  world 
How  these  things  came  about.     So  shall  you  hear 
Of  carnal,  bloody,  and  unnatural  acts,  385 

Of  accidental  judgments,  casual  slaughters, 
Of  deaths  put  on  by  cunning  and  forc'd  cause, 
And,  in  this  upshot,  purposes  mistook 
Fall'n  on  the  inventors'  heads.     All  this  can  I 
Truly  deliver. 

Fortivhras.      Let  us  haste  to  hear  it,  390 

And  call  the  noblest  to  the  audience. 
For  me,  with  sorrow  I  embrace  my  fortune. 
I  have  some  rights  of  memory0  in  this  kingdom, 
Which  now  to  claim  my  vantage  doth  invite  me. 


182  HAMLET  [Act  V 

Horatio.    Of  that  I  shall  have  also  cause  to  speak, 
And  from  his  mouth  whose  voice  will  draw  on°  more. 
But  let  this  same  be  presently0  perform  'd, 
Even  while  men's  minds  are  wild ;  lest  more  mischance, 
On0  plots  and  errors,  happen. 

Fortinbras.  Let  four  captains 

Bear  Hamlet,  like  a  soldier,  to  the  stage ;  400 

For  he  was  likely,  had  he  been  put  on,0 
To  have  proved  most  royally  :  and,  for  his  passage,0 
The  soldiers'  music  and  the  rites  of  war 
Speak  loudly  for  him. 

Take  up  the  bodies.     Such  a  sight  as  this  405 

Becomes  the  field,  but  here  shows  much  amiss. 
Go,  bid  the  soldiers  shoot. 

\_A  dead  march.    Exeunt,  bearing  off  the  dead  bodies, 
after  which  a  peal  of  ordnance  is  shot  off. 


NOTES 


Act  I.     Sckne  I 

The  Castle.  The  fortress  called  Kronborg,  near  Elsinore, 
which  forms  the  strongest  of  the  coast  defences  in  northeast 
Seeland.  It  stands  on  a  point  of  land  at  the  water's  edge  (see 
Frontispiece),  and  commands  the  approach  to  Copenhagen 
from  the  Cattegat.  Copenhagen  is  twenty-four  miles  south 
and  west  from  Elsinore. 

The  author  has  not  laid  the  play  in  Copenhagen,  or  even 
Elsinore,  where  was  a  royal  palace,  but  at  Kronborg  castle. 
The  presumption  would  seem  to  be  that  Claudius,  having  come 
to  the  throne  under  suspicious  circumstances,  and  in  disregard 
of  the  younger  Hamlet's  claims,  would  hedge  himself  up  for  a 
time  against  all  possible  uprisings.  No  part  of  the  play  is  laid 
at  the  royal  Marienlyst  palace,  near  Elsinore  proper  ;  and  from 
this  we  infer  that  the  court  was  not  in  residence  there.  Two 
scenes  only,  the  fourth  of  Act  IV.  and  the  first  of  Act  V.,  are 
set  unmistakably  beyond  the  precincts  of  the  castle.  Two 
others,  scene  iii.  of  the  first  act  and  scene  i.  of  the  second,  be- 
long perhaps  outside,  as  many  editions  have  it,  "in  the  house 
of  Folonius."     But  It  seems  on  the  whole  more  probable  that 

183 


184  NOTES  [Act  L 

Polonius  is  thought  of  by  the  author  as  quartered,  like  the  rest 
of  the  courtiers,  within  the  walls.  It  is  interesting  to  know 
that  Kronborg,  begun  in  1574,  was  new  and  of  some  fame  in 
Shakespeare's  day. 

1.  3.  Long  live  the  king.  Probably  the  watchword  for  the 
night;  for  it  satisfies  the  sentinel,  who  having  himself  been 
challenged  is  in  a  mood  to  be  satisfied  with  nothing  less. 
Under  less  strain  Bernardo  would  scarcely  have  given  it,  at 
least  in  response  to  the  first  challenge.  Horatio,  under  no  such 
strain,  does  not  so  answer  at  entering  (1.  15)  below.  For  two 
nights  the  sentinels  upon  the  platform  have  been  appalled  by 
the  apparition  of  a  ghost,  which  has  stalked  three  times  past 
them,  uncomfortably  near,  as  having  some  purpose  with  them. 
Bernardo  is  looking  for  the  third  appearance  of  the  "dreaded 
sight." 

1.  6.  Upon  your  hour.  '  Just  on  the  minute.'  The  castle 
clock  begins  striking  as  he  speaks. 

1.8.  Much.  'Large,' 'great.'  Cf.  '-Thou  hast  much  goods" 
(Luke  xii.  19).  Restricted  in  present  English  to  singular  nouns, 
mainly  abstracts  and  collectives ;  as  much  difficulty,  much  specie. 

1.13.    Rivals.     Slightly  pedantic  for 'partners.' 

1.  15.  The  Dane.  The  chief  representative  of  the  people, 
'The  King.'     Cf.  ii.,  44  below. 

1.  18.  Give  you.  Shortened  from  'God  give  you'  by  omis- 
sion of  the  subject,  as  Good-by  is  shortened  from  '  God  be  with 
you  '  by  suppressing  most  of  the  predicate. 

1.23.    Fantasy.     '  Imagination,'  •  effect  of  imagining.' 


scene  1]  NOTES  185 

1.  29.   Approve.     '  Test,'  '  put  to  the  proof.' 

1.  33.  Sit  we.  An  old  first  person  plural  imperative,  inher- 
ited from  Anglo-Saxon  times.    Cf.  "break  we  "  (1.  168)  below. 

1.  36.    Pole.     '  Pole-star.' 

1.  40.  Thee.  Not  the  object  of  "break,"  but  a  quasi-nom- 
inative form,  as  in  'Fare  thee  well.' 

1.  42.  Scholar.  One,  that  is,  who  is  acquainted  with  Latin. 
Ghosts  as  well  as  evil  spirits  were  supposed  to  stand  in  awe  of 
the  sacred  language  of  the  church  or  of  any  person  capable  of 
using  it  to  exorcise  or  conjure. 

1.  45.  Would  be  spoke  to.  '  It  seems  to  be  waiting  and  wish- 
ing to  be  addressed.'  A  ghost,  it  was  believed,  was  helpless  to 
impart  its  secret  until  asked  to  speak. 

1.  46.  Usurp'st.  The  time  of  night  that  should  be  sacred 
from  disquiet,  and  the  form  of  the  late  King,  —  two  things 
which  the  ghost  has  no  business  with,  yet  has  appropriated  as 
a  usurper. 

1.  48.  Denmark.  Kings  are  often  designated  by  the  names 
of  their  respective  countries.     Cf.  ii.,  69,  and  61  below. 

1.56.  Might.  'Could.'  In  Elizabethan  English  may  had 
not  yet  lost  its  Anglo-Saxon  sense  of  '  have  the  might,'  '  be 
able,'  as  here  illustrated. 

1.62.    Parle.     '  Conference,'  'parley.' 

1.  63.  Sledded  Polacks.  '  Polanders  on  sledges.'  The  Poles 
and  the  Scandinavians  were  not  infrequently  at  war,  and  bat- 


186  NOTES  [Act  I. 

ties  were  sometimes  fought,  in  the  North,  upon  the  ice.  But 
the  incident,  whether  the  Polacks  were  invaders  or  allies,  is 
difficult  to  conceive.  Attempts  to  reform  the  sense  by  text- 
changes,  an  'leaded  poleaxe,'  have  not  been  generally  approved. 

1.  65.   Jump.     '  Exactly,'  '  just.' 

1.  68.   Gross  and  scope.     l  Gist  and  range,  or  trend,  of  even 
tual  opinion.' 

1.  70.  Good  now.  '  Good  friends,  please  now.'  The  expres- 
sion occurs  six  times  in  Shakespeare,  and  always  with  some 
suggestion  of  a  coaxing  or  a  pleading  mood,  "now"  seeming 
much  like  the  present-day  colloquial  repetition  '  please,  please,' 
and  having  no  adverbial  influence  upon  the  following  verb. 

1.  72.   Toils.     '  Causes  to  toil.' 

1.  74.  Foreign  mart  for  implements.  '  Buying  of  imple- 
ments abroad.' 

1.  75.   Impress.     '  Impressment.' 

1.77.   Toward.     'Forthcoming,'  'impending.' 

1.  83.  Emulate.     '  Emulous.' 

1.  89.  Seiz'd  of.  '  In  possession  of.'  The  modern  legal 
phrase. 

1.  90.   Moiety  competent.     '  Proper,  adequate  portion.' 

1.91.  Gaged.     '  Pledged,'  'hypothecated.' 

1.  94.  Carriage.  '  Conveying  purport  of  the  articles  drawn 
up.' 

1.96.  Unimproved.     'Unworked,' '  undisciplined.' 


scene  1]  NOTES  187 

1.  98.  Shark'd  up.  '  Caught  up  hastily  and  indiscriminately, 
as  the  shark  swallows  prey.' 

1.  100.  That  hath  a  stomach.  'That  promises  the  zest  of 
daring,'  with  some  hint  also  of  prospective  spoils  for  soldier 
appetites. 

1.  107.  Romage.     'Commotion,'  'bustle.' 

1.  109.  Sort.     '  Suit,  match  with,  the  situation.' 

1.  112.  Mote.     Cf.  Matt.  vii.  3. 

1.116.  Gibber.     '  Talk  unintelligibly.' 

1.  117.  Stars.  Probably  in  construction  with  a  clause  or  line 
now  lost. 

1.118.  Moist  star.     'The  moon.' 

1.  120.  To  doomsday.  '  To  the  degree  prophesied  for  dooms- 
day.'    Cf.  Matt.  xxiv.  29. 

1.121.  Precurse.     'Forerunning.' 

1.122.  Still.       Constantly,'  'invariably.' 

1.  123.   Omen.     '  Calamity  portended.' 

1.  125.  Climatures.  '  Regions,'  properly  land  divisions  dis- 
tinguished, not  by  inhabitants  or  geographic  boundaries,  but 
by  climate. 

1.  127.  Blast.  'Destroy  by  wasting  sickness.'  Ghosts  so 
punished,  according  to  popular  belief,  any  one  who  ventured 
t©  cross  their  path. 


188  NOTES  [Act  I 

1.  134.  Happily.  '  Haply,'  '  perchance,'  a  meaning  often  met 
with,  and  rendered  necessary  here,  it  would  seem,  by  the  posi- 
tion of  the  word.  Its  ordinary  sense  of  '  fortunately '  is,  in 
usage,  scarcely  appropriate  to  conjectures,  but  must  be  said  of 
things  known  actually. 

1.  140.   Partisan,     '  Halberd,'  pike  and  battle-axe  combined. 
1.  151.   Lofty.     Compounded,   like   "shrill,"   with   "sound- 

lTlcr  " 

1.  154.  Extravagant  and  erring.  '  Out-of-bounds  and  wan- 
dering.' 

1.  155.  Confine.     'Bounds,'  'limits';  used  collectively. 

1.15(5.   Probation.     'Demonstration,'  •  proof.' 

1.  158.  'Gainst  that  season  comes.  '  Against  the  coming  of 
that  season.'  'Gainst  is  used  conjunctionally  here,  much  as, 
in  present  dialect  English,  viitlwut.  Cf.  "There  can  be  no 
meeting  without  you  come,"  etc. 

1.1(52.  Strike.  '  Exert  a  malignant  influence.1  Cf.  "moon- 
struck." 

1.  103.   Takes.     '  Blasts,'  '  bewitches.' 

1.  173.  Loves,  riuralized  in  the  effort  to  speak  of  their  love 
distributively. 

Scene  II 

1.  2.  That.     Used  here  in  place  of  a  repeated  •  though.' 

1.  4.  Brow  of  woe.     '  Woful  brow.' 

1.9.  Jointress.  'Jointuress,'  'joint  possessor.' 


scene  2]  NOTES  189 

1.  10.  Defeated.     '  Disfigured.' 

1.  11.  Auspicious.     '  Cheerful,'  the  passive  sense  of  the  word. 

1.14.  Barr'd.     '  Refused,'  'disdained.' 

1.18.  Supposal.     'Opinion,'  'estimate.' 

1.  23.  Importing.     '  Having  for  purport.' 

1.31.  Gait.     '  Advance,'  'proceeding.' 

1.32.  Proportions.     'Contingents,'  '  quotas.' 

1.  38.  Dilated.     '  Detailed,'  '  expanded.' 

1.39.  Duty.  'Service  you  are  to  render.'  Cf.  'sense  of 
duty,'  'general  disposition  to  accept  and  do  one's  duty,'  which 
is  the  meaning  of  the  word  in  the  next  line. 

1.44.    Dane.     Cf.  i.,  15. 

1.  45.  Lose  your  voice.     '  Lose  the  labor  of  asking.' 

1.48.  Instrumental.     'Prepared  to  render  service.' 

1.  51.  Leave  and  favour.  '  Indulgent  permission.'  Cf.  "leave 
and  pardon  "  (1.  56)  below. 

1.  56.  Bow  them.  '  Bow  themselves,  as  it  were,  in  acknow- 
ledgement.' 

1.  58.    Slow.     '  Reluctant.' 

1.  GO.  Seal'd  my  hard  consent.  '  Set  my  hard-won  consent, 
as  a  seal,'  "  upon  his  will." 

1.  63.  Best  graces  spend  it.  '  Best  gifts  and  accomplish- 
ments engage  you  in  spending  it.' 


190  NOTES  [Act  I. 

1.  65.  Kind.  '  Nature,1  '  a  relation  beyond  kinship,  but  not 
up  to  the  standard  of  nature.' 

I.  70.    Vailed  lids.     '  Downcast  eyes.' 

I.  81.   Haviour.     '  Behavior,'  'expression.' 

1.  82.  Denote  me  truly.  '  Signify  my  real  feelings,  my  essen- 
tial nature.' 

1.  87.  Commendable.  Accented  here,  as  usually,  upon  the 
first  syllable. 

1.  88.    Mourning  duties.     '  Dues  of  mourning.' 

1.90.  Father  lost.  'Father  who  was  lost.'  With  "bound" 
supply  '  was.'    « 

1.  92.  Obsequious  sorrow.  '  Demonstrative  acts  of  sorrow- 
ing,' with  reference  probably  to  the  "  inky  cloak." 

1.  93.  Obstinate  condolement.  '  Mourning  that  others  would 
wish  discontinued.'  The  prefix  con  seems  here  to  be  intensive 
merely. 

1.  95.  Incorrect.  In  the  sense  of  the  Latin  incorrectus,  '  not 
brought  to  discipline  or  order.' 

1.  99.  Sense.  Dependent  upon  "vulgar";  'anything  the 
most  ordinary  and  universal  to  observation.' 

1.  105.  Till  he.  '  Down  to  him.'  He  is  sometimes  used 
objectively. 

1.107.  Unprevailing.  'Ineffectual,' 'unavailing.'  Cf.  "pre- 
vailing prayer." 


scene  2]  NOTES  191 

1.  109.  Immediate.  '  With  no  other  candidate  or  aspirant 
between.'  "The  most,"  implying  that  there  are  rivals  never- 
theless, absurdly  negatives  the  word, 

1.  112.  Impart  towards  you.  'Make  impartments  in  your 
direction.'  Just  what  fatherly  impartments  the  King  is  making 
is  not  clear,  and  probably  is  not  meant  to  be  clear.  Hamlet  has 
been  set  aside  in  the  late  election  ;  there  is  no  doubt  a  party  in 
his  interests  still  active.  Under  these  circumstances  the  King 
might  well  wish  to  be  understood  as  doing  Hamlet  favors  —  per- 
haps with  reference  to  the  succession  —  of  which  he  is  not  aware. 

1.  113.  Wittenberg.  Known  to  Shakespeare  and  his  public 
mainly  through  Marlowe's  Tragical  History  of  Dr.  Faustus. 
The  University  of  Wittenberg  was  not  founded  till  1502. 
Luther  was  made  Professor  of  Philosophy  here  in  1508. 

1.  114.  Retrograde.  'Recessive.'  'counter'  ;  a  term  pedan- 
tically borrowed  from  astrology. 

1.124.    Grace  whereof.     '  Honor  of  which.' 

1.  127.  Rouse.  '  Bumper,'  '  toast.'  For  the  manner  of  such 
a  rouse  see  V.,  ii.,  279-283. 

Bruit.     'Sound  forth.' 

1.  132.  His  canon.  Evidently  the  sixth  commandment, 
which  makes  no  exception  of  suicide. 

1.134.  Uses.     '  Usages,'  'customs.' 

1.137.  Merely.     '  Wholly,' 'completely.* 

1.  139.  To.     '  In  comparison  with.' 

1.  140.  Hyperion.     'Apollo.' 


192  NOTES  [Act  1 

i.  141.    Beteem.     '  Allow.' 

J.  147.  Or  ere.  '  Ere  ere.'  "  Or"  is  a  variant  of  "  ere,"  but 
its  force  is  lost  in  present  English. 

1.  150.    Discourse  of  reason.     '  Discursive,  reflective  faculty.' 

1.  155.  Flushing.  Probably  'redness  caused  by  weeping.' 
The  grief  of  the  Queen  stopped  before  the  salt  of  her  tears  could 
leave  red  traces.  Her  eyes  were  "  galled,"  '  inflamed,'  but  the 
tears  were  tears  of  an  unrighteous,  disloyal  sorrow,  and  did  not 
disfigure. 

1.  157.    Dexterity.     '  Speed,  from  knowingness.' 

1.  158.  Nor  it  cannot.  An  added  negative  sometimes,  in 
Shakespeare  as  in  earlier  English,  strengthens  instead  of  nega- 
tiving the  preceding. 

1.  1G3.   Change.     '  Exchange.' 

1.  164.  Make  you  from.     '  Are  you  doing  away  from.' 

1.  182.  Dearest.  '  Most  exasperating  or  detested.'  "  Dear" 
was  once  appropriate  to  painful  experiences  and  their  causes. 
as  well  as  to  beloved  and  precious  objects.     Cf.  "rue  dearly." 

1.192.   Season.     '  Moderate,'  'control.' 

1.  193.  Attent.  *  '  Attentive.' 

1.198.  Dead  vast.  'Silent,  moveless  void.'  To  appreciate 
these  words  the  place  of  the  visitation  (cf.  Frontispiece)  must 
be  pictured. 

1.  200.  Cap-a-pe.     '  Cap-a-pied,'  'from  head  to  foot.' 


scene  2]  NOTES  193 

1.204.  DistilFd.     Probably  '  relaxed,'  'softened.1 

1.205.  Act.     'Operation,'  'action.' 

1.  207.  Dreadful.  '  Full  of  dread,'  i.e.  of  the  consequences 
of  divulgement. 

1.  216.  It.  The  tentative  form  for  'its,'  which  Shakespeare 
does  not  yet  use.  Lately  in  The  Tempest  and  The  Winter's 
Tale,  "  its  "  has  become  a  practicable  form.  The  proper  Eliza- 
bethan possessive  of  it  is  '  his.' 

1.  230.   Beaver.     '  Visor.' 

1.  237.  Like.     'Likely.' 

1.  238.  Tell.  'Count.'  Cf.  "teller,"  'counter  of  votes  W 
money.' 

1.248.  Tenable.  Properly  'retainable,'  though  Hamlet's 
meaning  evidently  calls  for  a  much  stronger  word. 

1.  253.  Our  duty.     Cf.  1.  39  above. 

1.  254.  Loves.  '  Instead,'  that  is,  'of  "duty."  '  Cf.  "friend" 
for  "servant"  (11.  162,  163  above).  For  the  plural  in  "loves" 
cf.  i.,  173  and  note. 

I.  256.   Doubt.     '  Suspect.' 

Scene  III 

1.  '1.  As  the  winds  give  benefit.  '  When  the  wind  allows 
ships  [southbound]  to  weigh  anchor.' 

1.  3.  Convoy  is  assistant.   Probably  '  conveyance  is  at  hand '  ; 
though  the  modern  sense  of  "convoy  "  gives  a  better  meaning. 
o 


194  NOTES  [Act  1. 

The  word  was  once  so  used  (Henry  V.,  III.,  vi.,  76)  by  Shake- 
speare. "Assistant,"  representing  the  French  assister,  is  found 
only  here. 

1.  4.  But.  Not  '  except,'  being  with  the  imperative  :  ;  Do  not 
miss  the  chance  of  writing  me,  when  a  ship  is  about  to  sail, 
even  if  it  keeps  you  from  sleep.' 

1.  6.  Fashion  and  a  toy  in  blood.*  'Thing  of  fashion  and  a 
toying  when  in,  because  in,  high  spirits.' 

1.  7.  Primy  nature.     '  Nature  in  its  prime  or  springtime.' 

1.  0.  Suppliance  of  a  minute.  '  What  a  minute  supplies,' 
'  what  is  supplied  but  for  a  minute.1 

1. 11.  Nature  crescent.     '  Nature  when  growing.' 

1.  12.  Thews.     'Muscles,'  'sinews.' 

1.15.  Cautel.     'Craft,'  'deceit.' 

1.  10.  Virtue  of.     '  Element  of  virtue  in.' 

1.  26.  Act.     '  Range  of  action.' 

1.  30.  Credent.     '  Ready  to  give  credence.1 

I.  32.  Unmaster'd.     'Not  kept  in  control,'  i.e.  'by  you.' 

I.  36.  Chariest.     '  Most  circumspect  and  wary.' 

I.  39.  Canker.     '  Canker-worm.' 

I.  40.  Buttons.     '  Buds.' 

I.  44.  Youth  to  itself  rebels.  'Youth  has  that  within  itself 
which  will  prompt  revolt  against  its  better  nature.' 


scene  3]  NOTES  195 

1.  47.  Ungracious.     '  Graceless.' 

1.50.  Primrose.     'Flowery.' 

1.  51.  Recks  not  his  own  rede.    '  Heeds  not  his  own  counsel.' 

Me.  '  For  me  '  ;  indirect  object,  or  "  dative." 

1.53.  Double.     'Duplicated,'  'doubled.' 

1.54.  Occasion.     '  Opportunity,'  '  good  fortune.' 

1.59.  Character.     '  Engrave,'  'inscribe.'     Note  the  accent. 

1.60.  Unproportion'd.     '  Undeveloped,'  'hasty.' 
1.  61.    Vulgar.     '  Disesteemed,'  cheap.' 

1.64.    Dull.     'Make  callous.' 

1.69.    Censure.     '  Opinion,'  'estimate.' 

1.  71.  Express'd  in  fancy.  '  Having  its  character  expressed 
in  fanciful  forms  or  colors.' 

1.  74.  Chief  in  that.  'Chiefly  in  apparel.'  There  is  some- 
thing wrong  in  the  readings  here,  as  both  the  quartos  and  the 
folios  agree  in  inserting  "of  a"  before  "select  and  generous." 
The  present  text,  in  spite  of  many  proposed  emendations  of 
"  chief,"  is  the  one  generally  accepted. 

1.77.    Husbandry.     '  Frugality,'  'thrift.' 

1.  81.    Season  this.     '  Make  this  serve  as  seasoning.' 

1.  83.    Tend.     '  Wait  for,  upon.' 

!.  90.  Marry.  'Truly,'  originally  a  profane  use  of  'Mary' 
or  'Marie,'  the  Blessed  Virgin. 


196  NOTES  [Act  1 

1.94.  Put  on.     'Impressed.' 

1.  102.    Unsifted.     '  Without  experience.' 

1.106.    Tenders.     'Promises.'     Cf.  " legal  tenders. " 

1.  107.    Tender.   'Cherish,' 'hold  dear' ;  a  punning  repetition. 

1.108.    Crack  the  wind.      'Make    the  poor  phrase    wind 
broken.' 

1.  109.    Tender  me.     '  Present  me  with.' 

1.115.    Springes.     'Snares.' 

1.  122.  Your  entreatments.  '  Entreaties,  solicitations,  ad- 
dressed to  you  '  ;  "your"  being  an  objective  genitive.  *  Hold 
for  better  terms  than  a  command,  even  if  it  be  a  prince's,  to 
talk  love.' 

1.  127.  Brokers.     'Procurers.' 

1.  128.  Investments.     '  Vestures.' 

1.129.  Implorators.     '  Pleaders,'  'solicitors.' 

1.133.  Slander.     '  Disgrace,'  'abuse.' 

1.  135.  Ways.  Not  plural,  but  an  adverbial  form  of  the 
singular.     Cf.  "always." 

Scene  IV 

1.  1.  Shrewdly.  «  After  the  manner  of  a  shrew '  ;  '  sharply,' 
•viciously.' 

1.  2.  Eager.     '  Biting.' 


scene  4]  NOTES  197 

1.  8.   Rouse.     Cf.  ii.,  127. 

1.  9.  Wassail.     '  Revelry.' 

Upspring.  Generally  explained  as  a  '  wild,  upleaping 
dance,'  though  'swaggering'  is  doubtfully  appropriate  to  men 
in  the  last  stages  of  intoxication.  The  word  is  ordinarily  con- 
strued as  the  object  of  "reels,"  but  such  a  transposition,  in 
such  straightforward  diction  as  Hamlet's  habitually  is,  is  diffi- 
cult to  accept.  Perhaps  it  is  better  to  make  "upspring"  the 
subject  of  "  reels  "  ;  '  the  upspring  dance  is  reelingly  engaged  in.' 

1.  12.  The  triumph.  '  In  celebration  of  the  victory  of.' 
Cf.  "the  motion  prevails." 

1.  15.  Manner.     '  Fashion.' 

1.  18.  Tax'd.  '  Censured.'  The  discussion  here,  11.  17-38,  is 
not  found  in  the  folio  texts. 

1.  19.   Clepe.     'Call.' 

1.20.    Soil  our  addition.     'Sully  our  name  and  fame,'  by 

calling  us  swinish.     "  Addition  "  is  properly  '  title.' 

1.  22.  Of  our  attribute.  '  Of  what  would  be  naturally  attrib- 
uted to  us,'  i.e.  '  praise.' 

1.  24.   Mole  of  nature.     '  Natural  mole,  or  blemish.' 

1.25.  As.     'Namely.' 

1.  26.  His.     Cf.  ii.,  216. 

1.27.  Complexion.     '  Temperament,'  '  inherited  tendency.' 

1.28.  Pales.     'Paling,'  'palisade.' 


198  NOTES  [Act  1 

I.  30.   Plausive.     '  Pleasing.' 

1.  31.  Of  one  defect.  '  Which  one  defect  has  constituted  oi 
imposed  ';  a  subjective  genitive  construction. 

1.32.  Nature's  livery.  'Badge  furnished  by  nature';  in 
contrast  with  "fortune's  star,"  i.e.  'mark  that  comes  by  acci- 
dent.' 

1.  34.  Undergo.     '  Bear  up  under'  ;  '  sustain,'  '  endure.' 

1.  36.  Eale.  Possibly  a  contracted  form  of  '  evil,'  or  a  dialect 
word  of  essentially  the  same  meaning,  chosen  with  punning 
reference  to  ale.  The  ea  here  was  pronounced  like  modern  ea 
in  great,  and  ale,  properly  al,  may  have  sounded  much  as  now. 
"Dram,"  a  'modicum  of  anything,'  a  'slight  potion,'  antici- 
pates the  figure. 

1.  37.  Of  a  doubt.  Not  much  sense  can  be  made  of  these 
words,  which,  if  correct,  must  stand  as  predicate  to  "doth"  ; 
'maketh  all  the  noble  substance  to  be  of  doubt,  mistrusted.' 
Many  attempts  have  been  made  to  tinker  the  text  in  these  two 
lines,  which,  with  the  nineteen  lines  preceding,  are  not  in  the 
folios,  but  with  no  success  worth  quoting. 

1.  38.  To  his  own  scandal.  '  With  the  effect  of  bringing  the 
whole  character  to  the  same  degree  of  disgrace  as  the  particular 
fault  or  evil  should  be  visited  with.'  "His"  stands  of  course 
for  '  its,'  and  has  "  eale  "  for  its  antecedent. 

1.40.   Of  health.    '  Of  moral  soundness,"  undiseased  with  sin.' 

1.43.  Questionable.    « Requiring  question. ' 


scene  4]  NOTES  199 

1.  47.  Canoniz'd.  '  Sainted '  ;  '  held  in  reverence,  at  and 
since  burial,  like  the  bones  of  a  canonized  person.'  It  is  the 
thought  of  the  late  king's  worth,  rather  than  zi  his  funeral, 
that  brings  out  the  word. 

In  death.  '  In  the  coffin,  and  the  cerecloth  wrappings  of  the 
dead';  but  it  is  clear,  from  "cerements"  in  the  next  line, 
that  the  wrappings  are  chiefly  meant.  "Hearsed"  is  'cof- 
fined.' 

1.  49.  Inurn'd.  Loosely  for  '  interred,'  winch  the  quartos 
read. 

1.  53.  Glimpses  of  the  moon.  '  What  the  moon  gets  glimpses 
of.'  Clouds,  then,  in  Shakespeare's  conception  of  this  scene, 
fitfully  obscure  the  moon. 

1.  54.  Fools  of  nature.     '  Fooled,  made  fools  of,  by  nature.' 

1.  55.  Disposition.     '  Emotional  nature.' 

1.56.  Reaches.     'Capacities,'  'limitations.' 

1.61.  Removed.     'Retired.' 

1.  64.  What  should  be  the  fear  ?  '  What  are  you  forced,  in 
your  view,  to  consider  dangerous  ?  ' 

1.  65.   Fee.     '  Value,'  '  worth.' 

1.  73,   Deprive.     '  Take  away.' 

Your  sovereignty  of  reason.  '  The  sovereignty,  controlling 
powers,  of  your  reason.' 

1.  75.  Toys  of  desperation.     •  Desperate  fancies,  promptings.' 


200  NOTES  [Act  I. 

I.  83.  Nemean.  'Belonging  to  Neinea,  in  Argolis';  epithet 
of  the  lion  which  Hercules,  in  the  execution  of  his  first  labor, 
slew. 

Nerve.     'Sinew.' 

1.85.   Lets.     'Hinders.'     Cf.  "  without  let  or  hindrance." 

1.  89.    Have.     '  Let  us.' 

1.  91.   It.     Refers  back  to  "  issue." 

Scene  V 

1.  3.  Flames.  That  is,  of  purgatory  ;  where  the  work  of 
cleansing  was  intermitted  (cf.  1.  11)  at  night. 

1.  11.  Fast.  Spirits  in  hell  and  purgatory  were  thought  of  as 
capable  of  thirst  and  hunger,  much  as  in  the  life  of  the  body. 

1.  19.  An.  The  original  form  of  '  on,'  and  used  in  Middle 
English  interchangeably  with  it,  as  also  with  a  or  o. 

1.  20.  Porpentine.  '  Porcupine ';  used  seven  times  by  Shake- 
speare in  this  form. 

1.21.  Eternal  blazon.  'Blazoning  of  the  mysteries  of  the 
hereafter.' 

1.  32.   Shouldst  be.     '  Wouldst  have  to  be.' 

1.  33.  Lethe  wharf.  '  Banks  of  Lethe  ' ;  adjective  for  pos* 
sessive,  like  Vergil's  "  Priameia  virgo." 


scknjeS]  NOTES  201 

1.  ■'.!.  Process.  '  Report '  ;  which,  given  out  (1.  35)  from 
court,  was  of  course  official. 

1.  42.  Adulterate.     '  Adulterous.' 

11.50,51.    Decline  upon.     •  Siuk  to  the  level  of.' 

1.  52.    To.     'In  comparison  with.'     Cf.  ii.,  139  above. 

1.  53.  Virtue.  Introduced  as  the  subject  of  thought,  but 
without  construction,  like  the  anticipative  noun  in  French. 
Cf.  •'  votre  libraire,  a-t-il  les  livres"  ? 

1.  58.  Soft.  '  Hold,'  'be  silent'  ;  not  to  be  taken  as  an  ad- 
jective with  omitted  '  be,'  but  as  an  actual  imperative.  Cf. 
"  soft  you  now"  (III.,  i.,  88). 

1.  61.  Secure.  'Unguarded,'  'careless';  the  active  mean- 
ing of  the  word. 

1.  62.    Hebenon.     Perhaps  '  henbane  ' 

1.68.  Posset.     'Coagulate.' 

1.69.  Eager.     'Acid.' 

1.  71.  Bark'd  about.  'Came  about  me  as  bark  encloses 
trees.' 

1.72.  Lazar-like.     'Like  Lazarus,'  'like  a  leper.' 
1.  75.    Dispatch'd.     '  Had  my  finish  with.' 

1.  76.  Blossoms  of  my  sin.  '  Sins  not  yet  brought  to  action, 
but  existing  only  in  unsuspected  tendencies.'  The  more  natu- 
ral idea  of  '  sins  in  the  stage  of  enjoyment  before  their  conse- 
quences are  reached '  seems  inconsistent  with  the  purity  and 
uprightness  of  the  late  King's  character. 


202  NOTES  [Act  L 

1.  77.  Unhousel'd.  '  Not  having  received  the  housel,  or 
eucharist.' 

Disappointed.     '  Unappointed,'  '  unprepared.' 

Unanel'd.     '  Without  having  extreme  unction  administered.' 

1.  80.  This  line,  in  the  opinion  of  several  commentators, 
may  have  been  given  originally  to  Hamlet.  But  Hamlet  seems 
in  no  mood  to  interrupt  the  Ghost. 

1.  83.   Luxury.      '  Lewdness.' 

1.  88.    Fare  thee  well.     See  i.,  40  above. 

1.89.    Matin.     The  French  matin,  'morning.' 

1.97.  Distracted  globe.  'This  head,  or  brain,  of  mine,  dis- 
tracted by  the  revelations  made.'  The  sense  of  'world,'  which 
some  critics  approve,  does  not  seem  to  justify  "distracted." 

1.  98.    Table.     'Tablet.' 

1.  99.    Fond.     '  Foolish.' 

1.100.   Pressures.     'Impressions.' 

1.107.  Tables.  '  Memorandum  tablets' ;  called  later  (II., 
ii.,  130),  'table-book,'  because  made  of  ivory  sheets  or  leaves, 
held  together  by  a  clasp. 

1.  110.  Word.     '  Watchword.' 

1.  116.  Come,  bird.     The  recall  of  a  falconer  to  his  hawk. 

L 121.  Once.     'Ever.' 

L  127.  Circumstance.     'Formality.' 


scene  5]  NOTES  203 

1.  137.    Offence.     That  is,  of  the  new  King's  crime. 

1.  147.  Upon  my  sword.  Swords  were  often  provided  with 
a  cross,  either  stamped  upon  the  hilt  or  formed  by  a  transverse 
bar  serving  as  a  guard.  To  supply  the  place  of  a  cross  or  cru- 
cifix in  administering  oaths,  swords  with  such  hilts  were  some- 
times used. 

1.  150.  True-penny.  'True-blue';  the  irreverence  of  this, 
and  "boy,"  being  intended  to  mislead  concerning  the  real  char- 
acter of  the  Ghost. 

1.163.  Pion^r.     'Pioneer.' 

1.  165.    As  a  stranger.    '  With  no  attempting  to  be  familiar.' 

1.172.    Antic.     'Odd';  '  disposition  to  be  peculiar.' 

1.  176.  An  if.  Really  a  doubled  '  if,'  with  the  force  of  one. 
Cf.  or  ere  (ii.,  147). 

1.  180.   Most.     '  Greatest'  ;  the  old  sense  of  the  word. 
1.  185.    Friending.     '  Friendliness.' 
1.186.    Lack.     'Be  wanting.' 

1. 190.  Go  together.  That  is,  '  without  attention  to  prece 
dence.' 

Act  II.     Scene  I 

I  3.   Shall.    '  Will.* 

1.5.    Of.     'Concerning.' 

1.  7.  Inquire  me.  'Oblige  me  by  inquiring,'  though  not  so 
definite  or  strong ;  a  good  case  of  the  "  ethical  dative." 


204  NOTES  [Act  II. 

Danskers.  '  Danes,'  the  national  word  in  Denmark.  "  Hoi- 
ger  Dansker"  is  the  typic  Dane,  like  Brother  Jonathan  as  the 
typic  specimen  of  our  own  people. 

1.  10.  Encompassment  and  drift.  '  Getting  round  and  tend- 
ing toward,'  hy  questions. 

1.  11.    Come  you.     '  You  come  '  ;  not  imperative. 

More  nearer.  Simple  comparatives  in  -er  were  often  strength- 
ened in  Elizabethan  English,  as  here,  by  more. 

1.  12.    It.       Zhe  matter.' 

1.  13.   Take  you.     'Start  with,'  'assume.' 

1.  20.    Forgeries.     '  Fabrications.' 

1.  31.    Breathe.     ' Speak' ;  so  in  1.  44  below. 

Quaintly.     'Cleverly,'  'ingeniously.' 

1.  32.    Taints.     'Faults.' 

1.  35.  Of  general  assault.  'That  generally  attack  young 
men '  ;  subjective  genitive. 

1.  38.    Fetch  of  warrant.     '  Warrantable  expedient.' 

1.  42.    Converse.     '  Conversation.' 

1.43.    Prenominate.     'Forenamed,'  'aforesaid.' 

1.  45.    In  this  consequence.     '  Assents  to  you  in  this  conclu 
sion.' 

1.  47.  Addition.     Cf.  I.,  iv.,  20. 
1.  51.  Leave.     '  Leave  off,' 


scene  1]  NOTES  205 

1.  58.   Rouse.     Cf.  again  I.,  ii.,  127. 

1.  04.  Of  wisdom  and  of  reach.     '  Wise  and  resourceful.' 

1.  05.    Windlasses.     '  Windings.' 

Assays  of  bias.     '  Attempts  by  deviation.' 

1.  G8.  Have  me.     '  Understand  me.' 

1.  71.  Observe  his  inclination  in  yourself.  Strictly  the  sense 
should  be  'Judge  what  he  is  doing,  and  means  to  do,  by  what 
you  find  yourself  prompted  to  do.'  But  this,  though  Polonius 
shows  no  governing  principles  here  except  'policy,'  is  hardly 
satisfying.  Perhaps  the  meaning  is  'Do  your  watching  and 
judging  inside  '  ;  '  betray  to  no  one  your  purpose.' 

I.  73.  Ply  his  music.  Not  to  be  taken  literally,  as  there 
seems  no  need  to  give  Laertes  a  further  motive  for  staying  in 
Paris  than  has  been  already  (I.,  ii.,  02,  03)  hinted.  Besides, 
this  motive,  for  the  son  of  a  Lord  Chamberlain,  and  such  a 
son,  would  be  scarcely  adequate  or  natural.  Probably  the 
sense  is  '  Let  him  play  his  tune  ;  don't  interfere.' 

1.77.  Closet.     '  Room,'  'chamber.' 

1.  78.  Unbrac'd.  'Unfastened.'  "Doublet"  is  a  kind  of 
long  waistcoat,  fastened  by  many  small  buttons  full  to  the 
neck. 

1.  80.  Down-gyved.  '  Down-fettered  '  ;  '  hanging  low,  like 
fetters,  about  the  ankles.'  In  this  form  down  carries  the  verb- 
idea  ;  cf.  "  down  brakes  !  " 

1.102.  Ecstasy.     'Mental  alienation,'  'madness.' 


206  NOTES  [Act  IL 

1.  103.  Whose  violent  property.  '  Quality  of  whose  vio- 
lence.' 

Fordoes.     '  Undoes,'  'destroys.' 

1.  109.  Repel  his  letters.  '  Refused  to  receive  the  messen- 
ger bringing  letters  from  him.' 

1.112.  Quoted.     '  Construed,'  'interpreted.' 

1.113.  Wrack.     'Wreck,'  '  ruin.' 

Beshrew  my  jealousy.     '  Plague  upon  my  suspicion.' 

1.115.    Cast  beyond.     'Overreach.' 

1.  119.    To  hide.     '  In  hiding.' 

Than  hate  to  utter.  '  Than  would  be  the  hate  from  utter- 
ing, or  making  known.'  'If  we  conceal  this,  and  Hamlet  be- 
come permanently  insane,  the  degree  of  grief  resulting  would 
be  greater  than  the  degree  of  hatred  that  the  King  and  Queen 
will  conceive  for  us  when  we  tell  them  that  Hamlet  is  in  love 
with  a  woman  beneath  his  rank. ' 

Scene  II 

1.  L  Rosencrantz  and  Guildenstern.  Rosencrantz  appears 
in  the  records  as  the  name  of  a  Danish  nobleman  present  at  the 
coronation  of  James  I.  in  1603.  Guildenstern  is  also  a  Danish 
name. 

1.  2.    Moreover  that.     '  Beyond  the  fact  that.' 

1.  6.   Sith.     'Since.' 


scene  2]  NOTES  207 

1.  7.   What  it  should  be.     '  What  it  is  in  nature.' 

1.  12.  So  neighbour'd  to.  '  Having  so  fully  the  relation  of 
neighbors  to,  the  acquaintance  of  neighbors  with.' 

Humour.     '  States  and  possible  shifts  of  feeling. ' 

1.  13.  Vouchsafe  your  rest.  '  Condescend  to  rest ' ;  an  ex- 
aggerated and  pedantic  locution  for  '  consent  to  stay.' 

1.  14.  Companies.     Cf.  I.,  i.,  173. 

1.18.  Open'd.     That  is,  "to  us"  ;  'disclosed.' 

1.  22.  Gentry.     '  High-bred  consideration.' 

1.  24.  Supply  and  profit.     '  Supplying  and  profiting.' 

1.  25.  Visitation.     '  Visit.' 

1.  27.  Of  us.     '  Over  us.' 

1.30.  Bent.      '  Intention,'  '  purpose.' 

1.  42.  Still.     '  Invariably.' 

1.  43.  You.     '  Yourself.' 

1.  47.  Trail  of  policy.  '  Policy-trail,'  « trail  requiring  sa- 
gacity to  trace.'  "Trail"  is  of  course  not  the  object  of 
"hunt,"  but  an  accusative  of  extent. 

1.  52.  Fruit.     'Dessert.' 

1.  56.  Doubt.     '  Suspect.' 

1.60.  Desires.     '  Good  wishes.  * 

1.  64.    Truly  found.     '  Found  sure  enough.' 


208  NOTES  [Act  IL 

1.  67.  Falsely  borne  in  hand.  '  Taken  advantage  of  by  false 
representations.'     "  Falsely  "  is  redundant  here. 

1.  71.  Give  th'  assay.  Apparently  '  offer,  venture  the 
attempt.'  * 

1.80.  Likes.     '  Pleases,'  'suits.1 

1.81.  Consider'd.  'Favorable  to  consideration';  not  par- 
ticiple here. 

1.86.  Expostulate.     'Discuss.' 

1.90.   Wit.     'Understanding.' 

1.  105.   Perpend.     '  Consider.' 

1.  100.  Beautified.  '  Beautiful,'  without  hint  of  adornments  ; 
a  word  of  some  acceptance  in  Shakespeare's  day. 

1.  113.  Bosom.  Referring  apparently  to  a  'pocket  in  the 
front  part  of  the  stays,  in  which  love  letters  and  love  tokens, 
and  even  money  and  materials  for  needle-work  were  anciently 
carried.'  Steevens  so  comments,  in  substance,  on  a  like  use  of 
the  word  in  (ill.,  i.,  250)  Two  Gentlemen  of  Verona. 

1.  116.  Doubt  thou.  'Have  your  doubts,  if  you  will.'  In 
the  last  line  of  the  stanza  the  meaning  is  strengthened  to  'dis- 
believe.' 

1.  124.  To  him.  Perhaps  In  imitation  of  the  classic  dative 
of  possession.     "  Machine  "  of  course  is  '  body.' 

1.  126.    More  above.     '  Moreover.' 

1.  136.  Play'd  the  desk.  '  Played  the  part  of,'  '  played  that 
I  was.' 


scene  2]  NOTES  209 

1.  137.  Given  my  heart  a  winking.  '  Winked  to  my  anxiety, 
my  affection,  to  be  in  abeyance.' 

1.139.  Round.     '  Roundly,'  'directly.' 

1.140.  Bespeak.     'Address.' 

1.141.  Star.     'Sphere,'  'world.' 

1.  145.  Took  the  fruits  of.     '  Profited  by.' 

1.  148.  Watch.     '  Condition  of  sleeplessness.' 

1.  149.  Lightness.     '  Lightheadedness.' 

1.151.  Mourn  for.    The  object  is  which  implied  in  "  wherein." 

1.  159.  Centre.     That  is,  '  of  the  earth.' 

1.  100.  Four  hours.  Often  used  indefinitely,  as  if  "four" 
were  'for.' 

1.  103.  Arras.  '  Tapestry  hangings '  ;  because  largely  made 
in  Arras,  France. 

1.  108.  Wretch.  Often  a  term  of  endearment,  as  well  as 
commiseration. 

1.  170.    Board.     'Accost.' 

1.  182.  Good  kissing  carrion.  'Carrion  good  for  kissing.' 
Cf.  "a  good  fowling  piece." 

1.184.  Conception.  As  Hamlet  has  divined  Polonius's  "pre- 
cepts" to  Ophelia,  there  can  be  small  doubt  as  to  his  meaning, 
and  the  motive  of  it,  here. 

1.187.    Say.     'Mean.'     "  By  "  is  '  concerning.' 

1.  195.   Who.     Often  found  for  '  whom.' 

r 


210  NOTES  [Act  IL 

1.  199.  Purging.     '  Discharging.' 

1.  204.  Should.     '  Would.' 

1.211.  Pregnant.     '  Ingenious,'  'having  implications.' 

1.  212.  Happiness.     '  Facility,  felicity  of  expression.' 

1.  218.  Withal.  Often  used,  as  an  emphatic  '  with,'  at  the 
end  of  clauses ;  here  governing  '  that.' 

1.  230.  Indifferent.     '  Undistinguished,'  « ordinary.' 
1.  248.  Confines.     '  Places  of  confinement.' 

1.  2G0.    Substance.     '  Substantial  good,'  which  the  ambitious 

pursue. 

1.  262.  '  You  see  where  this  brings  you  ;  shadow  of  a  dream 
is  shadow  of  a  shadow.' 

1.266.  Outstretched.  'Pretentious.'  'exploiting.'  Posen- 
crantz,  not  catching  the  hint  of  Hamlet's  reductio,  ventures  to 
affirm  the  nonsense  that  Hamlet's  last  sentence  should  have 
forestalled.  At  this  Hamlet  develops  his  argument  more  for- 
mally :  'The  highest  ambitions  of  monarchs  and  field  mar- 
shals, who  have  chief  reason  to  entertain  them,  being  but 
.shadows,  and  the  kings  and  showy  champions  being  but  shadows 
too,  then  beggars,  who  are  without  ambition,  are  alone  some- 
thing more  than  shadows,  and  have  real  bodies.  So  we  have 
monarchs  and  outstretched  heroes  brought  into  the  relation  of 
shadows  to  beggars, —  a  thing  not  correspondent  to  reality  in 
this  world.' 

1.267.  Fay.     'Faith.' 


scene  2]  NOTES  211 

1.  272.   Dreadfully  attended.     'The  service  rendered  me  is 
disgracefully  poor.1 

I.  273.  Beaten  way.  'Familiar,  much-tried  course.1  'by 
the  warrant  of  old  and  familiar  friendship.1 

1.283.  But.     'Only.' 

1.  285.  Modesties.     Cf.  again  the  note  (I.,  i.,  173)  on  "  loves.*1 

1.  291.  Consonancy.     Cf.  1.  11  above. 

1.  296.  Of  you.     '  On  you.1     Cf.  1.  27  above. 

1.  300.  Prevent  your  discovery.  '  Anticipate  any  possible 
revealment  by  you.1 

1.  307.  Fretted.     '  Embossed,'  '  embellished.1 

1.311.  Express.     •  Distinctive,1  'distinguished.' 

1.323.  Lenten.     'Curtailed,'  'scanty.' 

1.  324.  Coted.     '  Overtook,'  '  passed.' 

1.  331.  Tickle  o'  the  sere.  '  Ticklish,  sensitive  at  the  trigger  " ; 
'  easily  caused  to  explode,  like  a  musket  provided  with  a  hair- 
trigger.'  "Sere"  was  the  upper  part  of  the  trigger  piece 
which  held  the  hammer  in  position  when  lifted.  The  phrase 
then  means,  '  ready  to  laugh  at  the  slightest  provocation.1 

1.339.  Inhibition.  'Prohibition.'  This  probably  refers  to 
an  order  of  the  Privy  Council,  made  in  1601,  by  which  all 
theatrical  representations,  except  at  The  Fortune  and  The  Globe, 
were  stopped.  This  embargo  upon  the  patronage  of  the  thea- 
tres, which  was  the  "  innovation,"  forced  the  unhoused  players 


212  NOTES  [Act  IL 

to  seek  audiences  in  the  country  towns.     If  we  were  to  substi- 
tute Denmark  here  for  England,  Elsinore  would  be  such  a  town. 

1.  346.   Aery.     '  Eagle's  nest,'  '  brood  of  nestlings.' 

1.  347.  Eyases.  '  Unfledged  hawks.'  A  reference  to  the 
company  of  boy-actors,  known  as  Children  of  the  Chapel, 
who  had  been  playing  for  several  years  successfully  at  Black- 
friars.    These,  the  complaint  is,  "  are  now  the  fashion." 

Top  of  question.     '  Top  of  their  voices.' 

1.  348.  Tyrannically.  '  Applauded  as  the  tyrants'  parts  in 
the  old  plays  were,'  that  is,  '  violently.' 

1.349.  Berattle.     '  Berate,'  'assail.' 

Common  stages.     '  Regular,  adult  actors.' 

1.351.  Goose-quills.  '  Hackwriters,' who  furnish  the  abusive 
parts  or  interpolations. 

1.  353.  Escoted.     'Paid,'     " Quality "  is  ' prof ession.' 

1.359.  To  do.     'Ado.' 

1.  360.  Tarre.     '  Set  on.' 

1.  362.  Argument.     '  Plot  of  a  play.' 

1.  366.  Throwing  about.     '  Bandying  of  sharp  words.' 

1.  367.  Carry  it  away.     '  Carry  off  the  prize.' 

1.371.  Mows.     'Faces,'  'grimaces.' 

1.  373.  In  little.     '  In  miniature.' 

1.  374.  'Sblood.   '  By  God's  blood,'  i.e.  the  sacramental  wine 


scene  2]  NOTES  213 

1.378.  Appurtenance.     '  Appertainment,'  'accompaniment.' 

1.  379.   Comply  with.     «  Be  complaisant  to.' 

1.  380.   In  this  garb.     '  In  this  fashion.' 

Extent.     'Behavior.' 

1.  387.  Handsaw.  Perhaps  a  corruption  of  hernshaw,  for 
'heronshaw  '  'heron.'  With  this  understanding,  the  sense  of 
the  passage  is  most  satisfying.  In  hawking,  the  falconer  is 
unable  to  distinguish  the  hawk  from  the  heron  while  they 
force  him,  by  flying  with  the  north  wind,  to  face  the  sun. 
When  he  can  turn  about,  and  watch  them  flying  with  a  south- 
erly wind  in  the  other  direction,  he  will  easily  know  the  hawk 
from  the  heavier  bird  that  it  is  pursuing.  Of  course  "north- 
north-west"  is  a  piece  of  the  precision  with  which  Hamlet 
usually  nonplusses  his  adversaries,  and  there  is  possibly  a 
pointed  reference  to  the  new  role  that  his  friends,  at  the  King's 
order,  have  undertaken.  The  other  interpretation,  which 
makes  "hawk"  a  cutting  tool  and  leaves  "handsaw"  literal, 
takes  no  account  of  the  first  two  clauses,  which  must  have  had 
some  meaning  in  Hamlet's  mind. 

..  392.  Happily.     Cf.  I.,  i.,  134. 

I.  400.  Roscius.  The  eminent  Roman  actor  (d.  62  b.c.)  with 
whom  Cicero  studied,  and  whom  he  afterwards  defended. 

1.  402.  Buz.  Probably  an  interjection  of  impatience,  at  an 
unbearable  repetition. 

1.  404.  Probably  a  line  from  some  ballad  now  lost ;  sarcas- 
tically pertinent  to  "upon  my  honor." 


214  NOTES  [Act  IL 

1.408.  Scene  individable.  '  With  scene  unshifted.'  "Poem 
unlimited"  should  be  the  contrary,  'without  restrictions  of 
place  or  time.' 

1.  40!).  Seneca.  Prominent  Latin  author  (d.  65  a.d.)  of 
tragedies.  Plautns  (d.  184  h.c.)  wrote  famous  comedies.  Plays 
of  each  authorship,  a  few  years  before  the  date  of  this  play, 
were  frequently  acted  at  Cambridge  and  Oxford. 

1.  412.    Jephthah.     Judges  xi.  80-40. 

I.  414.  Some  editors  reject  '-a,1'  which  all  the  quartos  and 
folios  show. 

II.  410,  417.  The  ballad  from  which  these  lines  are  quoted  is 
included  in  Percy's  Beliqv.es,  Series  the  First,  Book  II.,  No.  iii. 

1.428.  Row.     Properly  '  line,'  but  here  '  stanza.1 

Chanson.  'Song';  "pious"  because  treating  a  Scripture 
subject. 

1.429.  Abridgements.  '  Ourtailers,'  '  those  who  will  cut  short 
my  present  talk'  ;  also,  by  a  quibble,  'entertainments.'  'plays.' 

1.  482.    Valanced.     '  Fringed  with  beard.' 

1.  484.  Lady  and  mistress.  Boy  or  youth  whom  Hamlet,  has 
seen  play  feminine  parts,  and  who  appears  later  as  the  Player 
Queen.  Women  actors  were  not  seen  on  the  English  stage 
until  1000.  Hoys  of  fifteen  years  or  younger  accompanied  the 
Strolling  troupes,  to  take  the  feminine  rules,  and  this  player  has 
added  several  inches  to  his  stature  since  Hamlet  went  to  Wit- 
tenberg. "  By'r  lady,"  'by  the  Virgin,'  is  added  punningly  in 
the  spirit  of  high-bred  fellowship  and  welcome. 


scene  2]  NOTES  21 5 

1.  436.  Chopine.  A  species  of  clogs,  not  unlike  the  modern 
wooden  shoes  of  the  Japanese,  and  from  four  to  ten  inches  or 
more  in  height ;  worn  first  by  women  of  rank  in  Italy  and 
Spain,  later  to  r„  limited  extent  in  England.  Hamlet  does  not 
necessarily  imply  that  the  Player  Queen  is  now  wearing,  or  has 
ever  worn,  a  chopine,  and  there  is  no  proof  of  their  use  on 
Shakespeare's  stage. 

1.  438.  Boys  sometimes  played  on,  in  parts  that  they  had 
well  mastered,  until  their  voices  began  to  change.  Hamlet  sees 
indications  that  this  point,  in  the  present  case,  has  about  been 
reached.  When  the  coins  of  the  day  were  cracked  inside  the 
ring  encircling  the  queen's  head  they  were  uncurrent. 

1.  439.  Fly  at  anything.  French  hawking  seems  to  have 
been  famously  expert  and  daring. 

1.441.    Quality.     'Proficiency.' 

1.  443.  Me.    Cf.  i.,  7  above. 

1.  446.  Caviare.  'Condiment  of  sturgeons'  roe,'  lately  intro- 
duced from  Russia,  and  unappreciated  by  the  "general"  or 
unfashionable. 

1.  448.  Cried  in  the  top  of.  '  Outvoiced,'  because  of  more 
conviction  and  authority. 

1.  450.  Sallets.  'Salads';  of  considerable  piquancy  in 
those  days. 

1.452.  Indict.     'Impeach,' 'convict.' 

1.454.  Handsome.  'Attractive  from  inner  excellence,' while 
"  fine  "  is  '  attractive  from  artistic  effort.' 


216  NOTES 


[Act  IL 


i.  456.   Thereabout.     '  The  part.' 

1.  460.   Hyrcanian  beast.    '  Hyrcan  tiger,'  as  told  of  by  Pliny 

1.467.   Gules.     Heraldic  for  '  red '  ;  "  trick'd  "  is  '  painted. ' 

1.  469.   Impasted.     '  Made  thick  as  paste.' 

1.  472.   O'ersized.     '  Covered  with  size  or  glue.' 

1.  473.   Carbuncles.     '  Garnet  or  ruby  gems.' 

1.483.  But.     'Only,'  'merely.' 

1.488.   Milky.     'Milk-white.' 

1.  490.  Painted  tyrant.    Cf.  Macbeth,  V.,  viii.,  25-27. 

1.  494.   Rack.     '  Mass  of  moving  vapor.' 

1.497.  Region.     'Sky,'  'air.' 

1.498.  A- work.     Cf.  I.,  v.,  19. 

1.500.  Proof.     '  Resistance,' 'invulnerability.* 

1.  501.   Remorse.     '  Pity.' 

1.  506.  Nave.     '  Hub.' 

1.  510.  Jig.     '  Comic  song.' 

1.  512.  Mobled.     Apparently,  from  later  description  (11.  516- 
519),  'disorderly  wrapped  or  muffled.' 

1.  516.  Bisson  rheum.     '  Blinding  tears.' 

1.  518.  O'erteemed  loins.   'Overtaxed,  overworn  with  mater- 
nity.' 

1.527.  Milch.     'Moist.' 


scene  2]  NOTES  217 

1.  528.    Passion.     Properly,   'suffering';  here  'sympathy,' 
'  pity.' 

1.  533.   Bestowed.     '  Provided  with  lodgings.1 

1.  534.  Brief  chronicles.    In  some  degree  the  stage  was  made 
to  supply  the  place  of  the  modern  newspaper. 

1.  539.  Bodykins.     '  Wafers  of  the  sacrament.' 

1.  540.  After.     '  According  to.' 

1.565.  Conceit.     'Conception,'  'idea.' 

1.  568.  His  whole  function.     'All  his  powers.' 

1.  576.  Free.     '  Innocent.' 

1.  577.  Amaze.     '  Confuse.' 

1.  580.  Muddy-mettled.     '  Dull-spirited.' 

Peak.  'Pine,'  'grow  thin.' 

1.581.  John-a-dreams.     'John     of     Dreams,'     'John     the 

Dreamer.'     Cf.  "  Jack-a-Lantern." 

Unpregnant  of.     '  Unalive  to.' 

1.  583.    Property.     '  Quality  of  kingship ' ;  not  '  belongings,1 
since  they  suffered  no  "  defeat,"  — that  is,  '  destruction.' 

1.  588.   Me.     Not  ethical  dative,  but  indirect  object ;  '  to  me.' 
1.590.   'Swounds.     '  God's  wounds,'  'zounds.' 
1.  591.   Pigeon-liver'd.    Doves  and  pigeons  were  once  sup- 
posed to  lack  gall,  and  to  be  for  this  reason  uncombative. 

1.  593.  Region.     Cf.  1.  497  above. 


218  NOTES  [Act  III. 

1.  595.  Kindless.     '  Unnatural,'  '  abnormal.' 

i.  60.3.  About.     '  To  the  task,'  '  be  about. 

1.  606.  Presently.     *  Straightway.' 

1.612.  Tent.     'Probe.' 
Blench.   'Start,'  'shrink.' 

1.618.  Abuses.     'Deceives,'  '  beguiles.' 

1.619.  Relative.     '  Connected,'  'pertinent.* 

* 

Act  III.    Scene  I 

1.  1.   Drift  of  circumstance.     '  Advancing,  tending,  by  cir- 
cumstantial means.'     Cf.  II.,  i.,  10. 

1.  2.  Confusion.     That  is,  '  of  ideas  and  speech.' 
1.3.   Grating.     'Disturbing.' 

1.  8.  Crafty  madness.    '  Madness  cunningly  feigned.'   Cf.  iv., 

188. 

1.13.  Question.     'Inquiry.' 

1.  17.  O'er-raught.     'Overtook.' 

1.  26.  Edge.     « Incitement.' 

1.29.  Closely.     'Privately.' 

1.31.  Affront.     'Meet,' 'come  upon.' 

1.  32.  Espials.     '  Spies.' 

1.  43.  Gracious.    Addressed,  of  course,  to  the  King. 


scene  1>  NOTES  219 

1.  45.  Colour.     '  Make  natural,  plausible.* 

1.47.  Much.     'Frequently,'  'fully.' 

1.53.  Painted.     '  Hollow,'  '  ungenuine.' 

1.  61.  No  more.     '  Nothing  but  this.' 

1.  65.  Rub.     In  bowling,  anything  that  turns  aside  the  bowl. 

1.67.  Mortal  coil.  'Turmoil  of  mortality.'  "Coil"  in  the 
shipman's  sense  applied  to  rope,  though  a  word  not  yet  used  in 
books,  must  have  been  known  to  Shakespeare,  and  was  probably 
included  by  suggestion  here.  "  Shuffle  "  would  seem  to  settle 
that.  "  Coil  of  mortality  "  should  then  mean  the  conditionings 
and  tribulations  imposed  upon  the  spirit  by  the  flesh,  the  body, 
infolding  it  helplessly  as  with  serpent  coils. 

1.  68.    Respect.     '  Consideration.' 

1.69.   Of  so  long  life.     'To  be  so  long  lived.' 

1.  70.   Time.     'The  times.' 

1.  76.  Bare  bodkin.     '  Mere  stiletto.' 

Fardels.     '  Burdens.' 

1.  79.    Bourn.     '  Boundary. ' 

1.  84.   Native  hue.     'Natural  color.' 

L  85.    Thought.     '  Anxiety.' 

1.89.   Orisons.     'Prayers.' 

1.  103.    Honest.     '  Virtuous.' 


220  NOTES  [Act  III 

il.  107,  108.  '  Your  virtue  should  not  allow  your  beauty  to 
be  discoursed  with.' 

1.  109.   Commerce.     '  Dealings.' 

1.  119.   Relish.     '  Impart  the  flavor  of.' 

1.122.    Indifferent.     '  Fairly,'  '  moderately.' 

1.  126.  At  my  beck.  '  Ready  and  waiting  to  be  commis- 
sioned.' 

1.  134.  House.  That  Polonius  should  have  a  house  at  Elsi- 
nore  is  not  unreasonable,  since  (see  note  on  The  Castle,  p.  183) 
there  was  a  court  palace  outside  the  town.  But  it  seems  likely 
that  "house"  is  meant  in  a  more  general  sense.  On  the  sup- 
position that  Polonius  lived  in  a  house  of  his  own,  and  that 
Scene  i.  of  Act  II.  is  laid  in  it,  we  are  forced  to  believe  that 
Hamlet  comes  over  from  Kronborg,  through  the  town,  to  Ophe- 
lia's closet  in  the  condition  (11.  78-80)  described,  and  that  Polo- 
nius, taking  Ophelia  by  the  arm,  proposes  (1.  101)  to  go  at  once 
thus  through  the  streets  to  the  King's  rooms  in  the  castle 
Shakespeare  can  hardly  have  so  conceived.  Then,  if  this  scene 
does  not  belong  to  Polonius's  house,  probably  Scene  iii.  of  Act 
I.  does  not. 

I.  142.   Monsters.     Cf.  Othello,  IV.,  i.,  63. 

I.  147.    Jig.     '  Walk  as  if  dancing  a  jig.' 
1.148.   Nickname.     'Misname.' 

II.  148,  149.  '  Pretend  that  your  playfulness,  in  giving  wrong 
names,  is  only  ignorance.' 


scene  lj  NOTES  221 

1.  156.  Expectancy  and  rose.  '  Hope  and  ornament.' 
"  Fair"  is  passive  here,  '  made  fair  or  fortunate,'  by  possessing 
him. 

1.  157.  Glass  of  fashion.  '  Glass  into  which  fashionable 
young  men  looked  to  see  what  they  should  be.' 

Mould.     '  Model.' 

1.163.  Feature.  'Shape.'  "Blown"  seems  to  revive  the 
conception  (1.  156)  of  "rose." 

1.  164.  Ecstasy.     Cf.  II.,  i.,  102. 

1.  168.   Not.     Cf.  I.,  ii.,  158. 

1.  170.   Doubt.     Cf.  I.,  ii.,  256. 

1.  178.  Puts.  Northern  dialect  plural,  which  ended  for  all 
persons  in  -s.  Shakespeare  sometimes  uses  it  for  reasons  of 
metre  and  of  rhyme  (cf.  M.  of  V.,  I.,  iii.,  162  ;  Cymb.,  II.,  hi.,  25), 
sometimes,  as  seemingly  here,  from  personal  choice.  "  Brains" 
occurs  five  times  as  a  nominative,  in  Shakespeare,  besides  the 
present  example,  and  in  each  instance  with  a  plural  verb. 

1.  179.    Fashion  of  himself.     'Real  habits  and  manner.1 

1.  181.  Grief.     'Trouble.' 

1.  187.  Round.     'Direct,'     Cf.  II.,  ii.,  139. 

1.  188.  So  please.  Conditional ;  as  in  the  parenthetic 
"please  God,"  'if  it  shall  please  God.' 

Ear.     'Earshot.' 

1.189.    Find.     'Find  out,'  '  expose.' 


222  NOTES  [Act  IIL 

Scene  II 

1.  4.   Nor  do  not.    Cf.  I.,  ii.,  158,  and  i.,  168. 

1.  10.  Periwig-pated.  Actors  at  this  time  generally  wore 
wigs  ;  patrons  of  the  theatre  did  not. 

1.  11.  Groundlings.  '  The  occupants  of  the  pit,'  which  in  the 
theatres  of  the  day  was  not  furnished  with  seats  or  even  a 
floor. 

1.  13.  Dumb-shows.     Cf.  1.  129  ff.  below. 

1.  14.  Termagant.  A  mythical  deity  of  the  Saracens,  intro- 
duced in  the  mysteries  and  moralities,  and  played  with  much 
violence  and  noise. 

1.  15.  Herod.  Another  character  from  the  mystery-plays, 
and  popularly  remembered  because  of  the  rage  and  fury  of 
the  part. 

1.21.  From.     'Aside  from.' 

1.25.  Pressure.     '  Stamp,'  'imprint.* 

1.  26.  Tardy  off.     '  Ineffectually  rendered.' 

1.  28.  Censure.     Cf.  I.,  ill-,  69. 

Of  the  which  one.  '  Of  whom  alone ' ;  or  perhaps,  '  of 
which  one  class.* 

1.  38.    Indifferently.     Cf.  III.,  i.,  123  above. 

1.  40.  In  the  older  drama,  the  clowns  were  allowed  to  ex- 
temporize their  several  parts,  under  the  stage  direction  Stultus 


scene  2J  NOTES  223 

loquitur ;  and  if  they  succeeded  in  making  the  audience  laugh, 
it  was  not  always  easy  to  make  them  give  way. 

1.  56.    Cop'd  withal.     *  Engage  with,'  '  have  dealings  with.' 

1.61.  Candi'd.     '  Sugared,'  '  flattering.' 

1.62.  Pregnant.       Profit-bringing.' 

1.  70.  Blood  and  judgment.  '  Passionate  impulses  and  self- 
control.' 

1.  80.  Very  comment  of  thy  soul.  '  Most  energized  dis- 
cerning.' 

1.  81.   Occulted.     'Concealed,'  'covered.' 

1.85.    Stithy.     '  Workshop,' or  perhaps 'anvil.' 

1.  92.    Idle.     '  Empty  of  interest.' 

1.  94.  Fares.  Understood  perversely  and  punningly  by  Ham- 
let as  '  how  is  your  fare  ? '  The  chameleon  was  once  supposed 
to  feed  on  air. 

1.  98.   Not  mine.     '  Not  for  me,'  '  no  answer  to  mine.' 

1. 104.  Caesar.  A  Latin  tragedy  on  the  death  of  Julius 
Caesar  was  performed  at  Oxford  in  1582. 

1.109.  Patience.  Said  deferentially  for  'readiness,'  'good 
pleasure.' 

1.  117.   Jig-maker.     Cf.  II.,  ii.,  510. 

1.  123.  Suit  of  sables.  Not  a  'suit  of  mourning,'  but  of 
'sable  fur,'  of  great  dignity  (cf.  IV.,  vii.,  79)  and  costliness. 
Cf .  I.,  ii.,  242. 


224  NOTES  [Act  III 

1.  127.   Not  thinking  on.     '  Not  being  remembered.' 

1.  129.  From  a  satirical  ballad,  inspired  by  the  opposition 
of  the  Puritans  to  May-games  and  Morris-dances,  in  which  the 
hobby-horse  had  part.  "The  hobby-horse  was  made  by  the 
figure  of  a  horse  fastened  round  the  waist  of  a  man,  his  own 
legs  going  through  the  body  of  the  horse,  and  enabling  him 
to  walk,  but  concealed  by  a  long  foot-cloth  ;  while  false  legs 
appeared  where  those  of  the  man  should  be,  at  the  sides  of  the 
horse." 

The  Dumb-show.  The  Player  King  and  Player  Queen,  who 
are  now,  with  the  Poisoner,  to  represent  in  Pantomime  the 
main  action  of  The  Murder  of  Gonzago.  The  dumb-show  was 
usually  a  means  of  bringing  before  the  audience  parts  of  a  play 
that  could  not  be  well  introduced  by  dialogue.  In  this  case 
what  the  actors  show  as  pantomimists  is  merely  what  they  are 
to  play  later  in  their  respective  roles.  Perhaps  the  purpose  is 
to  enable  the  audience,  by  this  foreknowledge,  to  watch  the 
effect  of  the  play  upon  the  king  more  closely. 

1.  131.  Miching  mallecho.     '  Wily  mischief.' 

1.  133.  Belike.     'Probably.' 

Argument.     Cf.  II.,  ii.,  362. 

1.  139.  Naught.     'Naughty,'  'worthless.' 

1.  144.  Posy.     '  Motto,'  generally  in  rhyme. 

1.147.  Cart.     Affectedly  archaic  and  crude  for  '  chariot.' 

1.148.  Salt  wash.     'The  sea.' 


scene  2]  NOTES  225 

1.152.    Commutual.     Cf.  "  Commixture." 

1.157.    Distrust  you.     "You"   is  dative:    'feel  misgivings 
for  you.' 

1.159.    Holds      quantity.       'Preserve      proportion.'       For 
"holds"  cf.  i.,  178. 

1.  160.  '  In  either  nothing,  or  both  in  extreme  measure.' 

1.  162.  Siz'd.     'Dimensioned.' 

1.  166.  Operant.     'Active,'  'operative.' 

Leave.  'Cease.' 

1.  174.  Instances.     '  Incitements,'  '  motives.' 

1.  175.  Respects.     Cf.  i.,  68. 

1.  180.  '  Purpose  is  conditioned  upon  remembering.' 

1.181.  Validity.     '  Strength,'  'vigor.' 

1.  183.  Fall.     Pluralized,  probably,  by  'fruit.' 

1.184.  Necessary.     'Inevitable.' 

1.  185.    '  What  we  promise  to  ourselves  we  may  absolve  our- 
selves from  paying. ' 

1.  189.    Enactures.     'Enactings.' 

1.  193.    Our    loves.     '  Love    that   others   feel   toward    us ' ; 

"our,"  objective  genitive. 

1.  196.    Flies.     Cf.  again  L,  178. 

1.201.   Seasons.     'Matures,' '  establishes.' 
Q 


226  NOTES  Act  III 

1.  207.    Die.     Subjunctive  imperative. 

1.211.    Anchor's  cheer.     '  Anchorite's  fare.' 

Scope.     '  Aim,'  '  ambition.' 

1.  212.  Opposite.  '  Contrary  circumstances,'  '  disappoint 
ment.' 

Blanks .     '  Blanches. ' 

1.222.  Protests.  'Formally  affirms,'  'asseverates,' —  i.e. 
her  devotion. 

1.  230.   Tropically.     '  In  the  manner  of  a  trope,  or  figure.' 
Image.     '  Representation.' 
1.  234.    Free.     Cf.  II.,  ii.,  576. 
Galled.     '  Rubbed  raw.' 

1.  237.  Chorus.  A  player  sometimes  introduced  in  the 
Elizabethan  theatre,  at  the  opening  of  an  act,  to  explain  or 
justify  the  plot.  Also  the  part  so  played.  Imitated  from  the 
Chorus  of  the  Greek  drama. 

1.  243.  Evidently  quoted  or  adapted  from  two  lines,  in  The 
True  Tragedie  of  Richard  the  Third,  in  which  Richard  ex- 
presses remorse  for  his  murders. 

1.  245.  Confederate  season.  '  Opportunity  acting  as  a  con- 
federate '  ;  apparently  personified  here. 

1.  247.   Ban.     'Curse.' 

1.240.  Wholesome.  'Vigorous';  usually  active,  as  in 
(I.,  i.,  162)  "wholesome  nights." 


scene  2]  NOTES  227 

Usurp.      '  Effect  a  usurpation  over.' 

1.  264.    Feathers.     Much  worn  on  the  Elizabethan  stage. 

1.  265.    Turn  Turk.     '  Decline,  as  from  Christian  to  Infidel , 
to  the  worst  conceivable  plight.' 

1.  206.    Roses.     '  Rosettes  of  ribbon  '  ;  large,  in  imitation  of 
the  famous  roses  of  Provins,  a  town  near  Paris,  or  of  Provence. 

Razed.     '  Slashed,'  or  '  slit  in  figures.' 

1.267.   Cry.    '  Company ';  properly  'pack.'     "Fellowship" 
is  'position  of  a  share-holder,  or  partner.' 

1.273.  Pajock.     'Peacock.' 

1.  281.   Recorders.     A  species  of  '  flageolet.' 

1.  283.    Perdy.     A  form  of  the  French  oath  '  Par  dieu.' 

1.291.    Distemper'd.       'Disturbed,'     'disordered';     either 
mentally  or  physically. 

1.  293.    Choler.     '  Anger.' 

1.  295.   More  richer.     Cf.  II.,  i.,  11. 

1.  296.   Purgation.     With  emphasis  on  the  other  meaning 
of  'exculpation.' 

1.299.  Frame.     'Orderliness.' 

1.  307.  Pardon.     '  Leave  to  withdraw.' 

1.  317.  Admiration.     '  Wonder.' 

1.323.  Shall.     Cf.  II.,  L,  3. 

1.  324.  Trade.     '  Business.' 


228  NOTES  [Act  Hi 

i.  326.  Pickers  and  stealers.  '  Hands '  ;  because  of  the 
phrase  in  the  catechism,  "to  keep  my  hands  from  picking  and 
stealing." 

1.  328.  Your  cause  of  distemper.  '  Cause  of  your  disorder,' 
Cf.  I.,  iv.,  73. 

1  333.  While  the  grass  grows.  The  whole  proverb  runs 
"  Why  1st  grass  doth  growe,  oft  sterves  [starves]  the  silly 
steed." 

1.  336.  To  withdraw  with  you.  Probably,  '  To  take  you 
two  aside,  that  the  actors  may  not  hear.' 

Recover  the  wind.  '  Get  the  game  on  the  windward  side,  so 
that  the  toil,  or  net,  will  not  be  scented.' 

1.  3f)0.  Stops.  '  Stoppings  '  ;  '  manner  of  stopping  the  vent- 
ages, or  holes.' 

1.  373.    By  and  by.     '  At  once.' 

1.  374.  Fool  me  to  the  top  of  my  bent.  '  Humor  me  to  the 
limit  of  my  inclination.' 

1.370.    Witching  time.     'Time  for  witch  practices.' 

1.  385.  Nero.  Who,  it  will  be  remembered,  murdered  his 
mother. 

1.380.    Shent.     '  Wounded,'  'punished.' 

1.  300.  Give  them  seals.  '  Advance  them,  as  seals  advance 
legal  documents,  to  deeds.' 


scene  3]  NOTES  229 

Scene  III 
1.  5.    Terms.     '  Restricting  conditions,1  '  responsibilities.1 

1.  11.  Singular  and  peculiar.  '  Single  and  belonging  to  itself 
alone. ' 

1.  12.  Armour  of  the  mind.     '  Defensive  expedients.1 

1.13.   Noyance.     'Injury.1 

1.  15.  Cease.  '  Surcease,1  '  death  '  ;  taking  a  verb  of  kindred 
meaning  like  "blow  is  struck,11  "life  is  lived.11  Cf.  "die  the 
death.11 

1.  16.  Gulf.     'Whirlpool.1 

1.  22.  Boisterous.     'Violent.' 

1.24.  Arm.     'Furnish,1  'prepare.' 

1.  25.  Fear.     '  Cause  of  fear. 1 

1.20.  Process.     '  Procedure,1  'proceedings.' 

Tax  him  home.     '  Censure,  reprove  effectually.1 

1.  33.  Of  vantage.     Probably  'from  an  advantageous  place.1 

1.  39.  '  Though  my  inclination  be  as  strong  as  my  purpose  or 
(1.  40)  intent.' 

1.  41.  Double  business.  Not  'twofold  task,'  but  'task  re- 
quiring at  the  same  time  two  businesses,  or  forms  of  action.' 

1.51.   Past.     'Irrevocable.1 

1.  56.   Ambition.     '  Accomplishment  of  ambition. ' 


230  NOTES  [Act  ID 

I.  57.  Offence.     '  What  the  offence  has  brought.1 

1.  58.  Currents.     '  Courses.'     Cf.  i.,  87. 

1.  <j4.  Rests.      '  Remains.' 

1.  08.  Limed.     'Caught  as  with  bird-lime.' 

1.69.  Engag'd.     '  Brought  into  restraint.' 

1.  73.  Pat.     'Conveniently,'  •  with  advantage.' 

1.  75.   Would.     '  Would  like  to  be,'  as  in  personification  ; 
'  should.' 

1.  79.    Hire  and  salary.     '  A  thing  one  might  be  hired  and 
salaried,  in  the  King's  interest,  to  do.' 

1.  80.    Full  of  bread.     '  Not  in  an  ascetic,  but  a  self-indulgent 
frame  of  mind.' 

1.  83.  Circumstance.     '  Point  of  view.' 

1.  85.  To  take.     '  In  taking.' 

1.88.  Hent.     '  Grasp,'  'seizure.' 

1.96.  Physic.     'Remedy.' 

Scene  IV 

1.  7.   Fear  me.    Cf.  I.,  111.,  51. 

1.  12.    Question.     '  Talk,'  but  used  of  course  with   punning 
reference  (1.  11)  to  "answer." 

1.  14.    Rood.     'Crucifix.' 


scene  4]  NOTES  231 

1.38.    Proof.    Perhaps  '  impenetrableness,'  rather  than  'im- 
penetrable,' on  account  of  the  noun  following. 

1.42.    Rose.     '  Idealizing,'  '  transfiguration. ' 

1.  44.   Blister.      '  Condition  produced  by  removing  the  skin.' 
Cf.  Comedy  of  Errors,  II.,  ii.,  138. 

1.  46.    Contraction.      '  Contract-making,'    '  making    of    mar- 
riage contracts.' 

1.  48.    Doth  glow.     That  is,  'with  indignation.' 

1.  49.    Mass.     '  The  earth.' 

1.52.    Index.     '  Preface,'  '  prologue.'     The  index  was  often 
placed  at  the  beginning  of  the  volume. 

1.54.   Presentment.     'Representation.' 

1.56.   Front.     'Forehead.' 

1.  58.    Station.     'Attitude,'  'posture.' 

1.  65.   Wholesome.      Passive,    again,   as    in    Ii.,   249,    311  ; 

'  healthy,'  '  normal.' 

1.  67.    Batten.     'Fatten.' 

1.  60.    Hey-day.      Properly    'high-day,'    'time    of    highest 

spirits  and  vigor.' 

1.  72.  Motion.     '  Inclination.' 

1.  74.  Ecstasy.     Cf.  II.,  i.,  102. 

1.  77.  Hoodman-blind.     '  Blind-man's-buff.' 

1.  79.  Sans.    The  French  sans,  '  without.' 


232  NOTES  [Act  III. 

1.  81.  Mope.     'Be  stupid.' 

1.83.  Mutine.     '  Mutiny,'  '  rebel.' 

1.  88.  Panders  will.     '  Panders  to  desire.' 

1.  90.  Grained.     '  Dyed  in  grain. ' 

1.  91.  Leave  their  tinct.     '  Part  with  their  color.' 

1.  92.  Enseamed.     'Filthy,'  'nauseating.' 

1.  98.  Vice  of  kings.  '  A  Vice,  or  buffoon  of  the  old  morali- 
ties, trying  to  play  king. 

1.  99.  Cutpurse.  Not  'pick-pocket,'  since  purses  were  gener- 
ally worn  in  plain  sight.  The  cutpurse  cut  them  from  the 
girdle  or  other  part  of  the  dress  to  which  they  were  attached. 
Cf.  W.  Tale,  IV.,  iv.,  622. 

1.  102.  Of  shreds  and  patches.  In  reference  to  the  dress  of 
the  Vice,  which  was  generally  the  motley  of  a  fool. 

1.  107.  Laps'd.  '  Derelict '  ;  in  "  time,"  because  the  deed  is 
not  yet  done;  and  in  "passion,"  because  there  is  no  eager, 
overmastering  disposition,  such  as  he  supposes  the  Ghost  would 
have  considered  worthy,  to  do  the  deed. 

1.  108.  Important.     'Momentous.' 

1.112.  Amazement.     '  Perplexity  and  fright.' 

1.114.  Conceit.     'Imagination.' 

1.  118.  Incorporal.     '  Incorporeal.' 

1.  120.  Alarm.     Italian  alV  arme,  'to  arms!' 


scene  4]  NOTES  233 

1.  121.  Excrements.  '  Hair'  ;  nails  and  feathers  were  like- 
wise so  called. 

1.  122.  An.     Cf.  I.,  v.,  19. 

1.  123.  Distemper.     Cf.  III.,  ii.,  291. 

1.  127.  Capable.     'Susceptive,'  'impressionable.' 

1.129.  Effects.     '  Effectuations,'  '  accomplishment.' 

1.  130.  Colour.     'Character.' 

1.  135.  The  Ghost  enters  (1.  102),  according  to  the  quarto 
of  1603,  which  is  apparently  (see  Introduction)  good  authority 
in  such  matters,  "  in  his  night  gowne,"  or  dressing  gown. 

1.  138.  Ecstasy.     Cf.  II.,  i.,  102. 

1.  144.  Gambol.     '  Skip,'  'leap  with  childish  alacrity.' 

1.  152.  My  virtue.     '  The  exactions  of  my  virtue.' 

1.153.  Pursy.     '  Corpulent,'  'self-indulgent.' 

1.  155.  Curb.     '  Bow.' 

1.  156.  Thou.     Cf.  the  German  du. 

1.161.  Sense.     '  Sensitiveness,'  'conscience.' 

1.  162.  Devil.     '  Evil  genius.' 

1.  164.  Frock  or  livery.  Suggested  probably  by  the  other 
meaning  of  "habits." 

1.  174.    This.     «  This  victim.' 

1.  175.   Their.     Refers  to  heaven,  which  is  sometimes  plural. 


734  NOTES  [Act  IV. 

1.  176.  Answer  well.     '  Render  satisfactory  account.' 
1.  184.  Reechy.     '  Dirty.' 
1.  190.   Paddock.     'Toad.' 

Gib.     'Mule  cat'  ;  corrupted  from  'Gilbert,'  and  found  in 
the  form  'gib-cat.' 

1.  194.   Famous  ape.     Nothing  is  now  known  of  this  story. 
1.  195.    Conclusions.     'Experiments.' 

1.206.  Enginer.     '  Contriver,'  'pioneer.' 

1.207.  Hoist.     Participle  of  hoise,  'hoist,'  'hoisted.' 
Petar.     'Petard.' 

1.209.  At.     'Close  to,'  'up  to.' 

1.210.  Crafts.     'The  King's  craft,'  'and  mine.' 

1.211.  Packing.     'Hurrying.1 

Act  IV.     Scene  I 

1.  1.    Profound.     '  Mysterious,'  as  well  as  'deep.' 

1.11.  Brainish.     'Brainsick.' 

1.  16.  Answer'd.     '  Accounted  for.' 

1.  18.  Kept  short.     '  Held  in  tether. ' 

1.  22.  Divulging.     Intransitive  :  '  being  divulged.' 

1.  25.  Ore.     '  Nugget,'  probably  of  gold. 

1.  26.  Mineral.     'Ore.' 


scene  3]  NOTES  235 

Metals  base.     '  Base  metal.' 

1.41.  O'er.     '  Along,'  'by  way  of.' 

1.42.  Blank.     '  Mark,'  'target.' 

Scene  II 

1.  13.    Replication.     'Reply.' 

I.  15.    Countenance.     'Favor.' 

1.16.   Authorities.      'Functions,'  'offices  of  authority.' 

II.  26,  27.  Pronounced  nonsense  by  many  critics.  But 
Hamlet  does  not  often  resort  to  it,  preferring  to  mystify  his 
adversaries  by  over-literalness.  He  may  mean  here,  playing  on 
"king,"  'The  body  [of  Claudius]  is  with  him  and  constitutes 
him  who  is  King  in  name,  but  the  King  spiritual,  standing  for 
the  worthy  and  rightful  sovereignty  of  Denmark,  is  not  with 
that  body,'  "King,"  in  the  next  line,  reverts  to  the  former 
meaning. 

1.  30.  Hide  fox  and  all  after.  Probably  a  children's  game, 
like  Hide-and-Seek. 

Scene  III 

1.  6.    Scourge.     '  Punishment.' 

1.  0.  Deliberate  pause.  'Pause  of  deliberation,'  or  'deliber- 
ated interference.' 

1.  21.  Politic  worms.  'No  others,'  it  seems  to  be  suggested, 
'  would  touch  him.' 


236  NOTES  [Act  IV. 

1.32.    Progress.     'Journey  of  state.' 
1.42.    Tender.     Cf.  I.,  iii.,  107. 
1.  46.   Tend.     Cf.  I.,  iii.,  83. 

1.  49.  I  see  a  cherub  that  sees  them.  If  Hamlet  is  assisted, 
as  (cf.  III.,  iv.,  200)  seems  likely,  by  some  one  in  the  King's 
counsel,  he  would  be  pretty  likely,  in  his  literal-mysterious  way, 
to  tell  the  King  so  here.  The  sense,  then,  may  be  'I  am  seeing 
somebody  in  my  mind's  eye  who  sees  them.' 

1.  54.    At  foot.     '  At  heels.' 

1.58.    Leans.     'Depends.' 

1.  60.   As.     'Since  so.' 

1.  62.  Free  awe.  '  Awe  unconstrained,'  •  uninterfered 
with.' 

1.  63.    Coldly  set.     '  Regard  or  treat  with  indifference.' 
1.67.    Hectic.     'Fever  attendant  upon  debility.' 
1.69.   Haps.     'Luck,'  'fortune.' 

Scene  IV 

1.  3.    Conveyance.     '  Authorizing  instrument,'  '  grant.' 

1.6.    Eye.     '  Presence,'  'sight.' 

1.  15.  Main.  Probably  'chief  army,'  and  not  'country  as  a 
whole.' 

1.22.    Ranker.     '  Greater,'  '  richer.' 

1.27.    Imposthume.     'Abscess.' 


scene  5]  NOTES  237 

1.  34.    Market,     '  Profit.' 

1.  36.  Discourse.  Latin  discursus,  'range,'  i.e.  'of  reason'  ; 
cf.  I.,  ii.,  150. 

1.39.    Fust.     'Grow  mouldy.' 
1.41.   Of.     '  Developed  from.' 
1.  45.    Sith.     Cf.  II.,  ii.,  6. 
1.  50.   Mouths.     'Faces.' 

1.64.  Argument.  '  Issue,'  'matter  in  dispute.'  "Not"  be- 
longs to  "  is." 

1.  61.  Fantasy  and  trick  of  fame.  '  Illusion  and  allurement 
that  promise  fame,'  "of  fame"  being  a  subjective  genitive  and 
giving  the  source  of  both. 

1.  62.   Plot.     That  is,  'of  ground.' 

1.  64.  Continent.  'That  which  contains,'  'receptacle,'  're- 
pository.' 

Scene  V 

1.3.  Will.     'Must.' 

1.  6.   Enviously.     'Angrily.' 

1.  8.    Unshaped.     'Shapeless.' 

1.0.    Collection.     'Attempt  to  gather  meaning.' 

1.15.    Ill-breeding.     'Mischief-breeding.' 

1.  18.    Toy.     'Trifle.' 

Amiss.     '  Misfortune,'  '  calamity.' 


238  NOTES  [Act  IV 

1.  19.    Jealousy.     '  Suspicion.' 

1.  25.  Cockle  hat.  A  cockle  shell,  fastened  to  the  hat,  was 
often  the  badge  of  a  returning  pilgrim. 

1.37.  Larded.     '  Adorned,'  'garnished.' 

1.  41.   God  'ild.     '  May  God  yield,  or  reward.' 

I.  45.   Conceit  upon.     '  Imaginings  about.' 

II.  48-51.  '  The  first  maid  seen  by  a  young  man  on  the 
morning  of  this  day  was  considered  his  true-love  or  Valentine.' 

1.  70.  Thick  and  unwholesome.  Referring,  with  "mud- 
died," to  the  blood  and  feelings,  or  'bad  blood,'  as  one  critic 
has  it,  of  the  people. 

1.  72.  In  hugger-mugger.  '  Privately  and  hastily,  without 
dignity.' 

1.  78.  Buzzers.     '  Whisperers.' 

1.  80.  Wherein.     '  In  which  pestilent  speeches. 

Necessity.     '  Need  of  plausible  grounds,  beggared  of  facts.' 

1.  81.   Nothing  stick.     '  Not  in  the  least  heshate.' 

1.  8:5.  Murdering  piece.  '  Cannon  loaded  with  rude  canister 
shot.' 

1.  84.  Switzers.  Even  thus  early  Swiss  soldiers  are  heard 
of  as  royal  guardsmen.  Perhaps  the  idea  is  that  Claudius  will 
not  yet  confide  in  the  loyalty  (see  note  on  The  Castle,  p.  18o) 
of  Danish  troops.  But  playwrights  had  begun  to  surround  their 
Kings,  without  much  reference  to  time  or  country,  with  Switzer 
sjuards. 


scene  5]  NOTES  239 

1.  87.  Overpeering  of  his  list.  •  Overlooking,  overtopping  its 
bounds. ' 

1.  89.  Head.     '  Armed  body.' 

1.  93.  Of  every  word.  '  Proposed  by  him  or  by  their  lead- 
ers.' 

1.  98.   Counter.     '  In  the  contrary  direction.' 

1.  110.  Fear.     'Fear  for.'     Cf.  I.,  hi.,  51. 

1.  111.  Hedge.     'Enclose.' 

1,  123.   Throughly.     An  old  variant  for  '  thoroughly.' 

1.129.  Swoopstake.  '  Sweeping-the-stakes,'  'without  dis- 
crimination '  ;  said  of  the  gamester  who  attempts  at  the  end  of 
a  trick,  whether  his  or  not,  to  sweep  away  the  stakes. 

1.  133.  Pelican.  From  the  ancient  belief  that  the  pelican 
pierced  its  breast  to  feed  its  young. 

1.  137.   Sensible.     '  Feelingly.' 

1.138.   Level.     '  Straight,'  'directly.' 

1.  148.  Fine.     '  Delicate,'  '  tender.' 

1.  149.  Instance.  'Symptom,'  'token';  here  '  soundness  of 
wits,'  'sent  after'  Polonius. 

1.161.  Rosemary.     Symbol  of  remembrance. 

1.162.  Pansies.  Because  from  the  French  pensees,  'thoughts.' 
In  giving  these  flowers  Ophelia  seems  to  be  reminded  of  her 
lover. 


240  NOTES  [Act  IV. 

1.166.  Fennel.  Emblem  of  flattery ;"  columbine,"  of  thank, 
lessness. 

1.  167.   Rue.     Symbolic  of  sorrowful  remembrance. 

1.169.  Daisy.  Typic  of  dissembling.  "  Violets  "  were  '  for 
faithfulness.' 

1.  173.    From  a  popular  ballad  of  the  day. 

1.  174.   Thought.     '  Worriment,'  'anxiety.'     Cf.  III.,  i.,  85. 

Passion.     '  Pain  of  grief.' 

1.175.    Favour.     'Attractiveness.' 

1.  193.  Touch'd.  '  Slightly  affected,'  as  we  say  of  frost ;  '  im- 
plicated.' 

1.  199.  His  means  of.     '  Means  of  his.' 

1.  200.  Hatchment.  '  Arms  and  armor  placed  above  the 
body  at  funeral.' 

1.203.   That.     'So  that.' 

Scene  VI 

1.  1.  What.  What  inquires  concerning  quality  or  station, 
who,  identity 

1.  14.  Means  to.  '  Means  of  sending  to '  ;  apparently  (cf. 
vii.,  39-40,  and  i.,  30  below)  to  avoid  coming  before  the  king 
in  person. 

1.  18.  Compelled.  '  A  valour,  a  resistance  contrary  to  our 
inclination.' 


scene  7]  NOTES  241 

I.  19.  Why  this  pirate  should  allow  Hamlet's  ship  to  with- 
draw unplundered,  and  why  there  should  be  no  disposition  to 
hold  Hamlet  for  ransom,  are  points  to  be  pondered  in  the  study 
of  this  scene.  Later  (1.  22)  Hamlet  says  he  is  "to  do  a  good 
turn  for  them."  What  good  turn,  in  the  way  of  civility,  is  to  be 
done  for  pirates  ?  Besides,  pirates  do  not  ordinarily  sail  into 
open  harbors,  or  send  any  sailors  from  their  crews  ashore. 

Scene  VII 

1.  1.  Acquittance.  '  Acquittal ' ;  conceived  as  a  formal  in- 
strument, like  a  reprieve. 

1.  17.    Count.     'Accounting,'  'trial.3 

1.  18.    Gender.     'Race';  'general  public.' 

1.  21.  Gyves.  'Fetters'  ;  i.e.  'if  any  were  put  upon  him. 
'  He  would  be  more  popular  than  ever.' 

1.  24.    And  not.     Supply  '  gone  to  the  place.' 

1.  26.    Terms.     '  State,'  '  condition.' 

1.  27.  '  If  I  may  say  the  praises  now  that  belonged  to  her 
before  she  lost  her  mind.' 

1.  28.  On  mount.  Here  seems  to  be  an  allusion  to  the  coro- 
nation of  the  Emperor  of  Austria  as  King  of  Hungary.  "  On 
the  Mount  of  Defiance,  at  Presburg,  he  unsheathes  the  ancient 
sword  of  state,  and  shaking  it  toward  North,  South,  East,  and 
West,  challenges  the  four  corners  of  the  world  to  dispute  his 
rights."  But  it  is  not  known  that  Shakespeare  could  have  been 
aware  of  such  a  ceremonial. 

R 


242  NOTES  [Act  IV. 

1.61.    Checking  at.     '  Refusing,'  ■  objecting  to.' 

1.  66.    Uncharge  the  practice.     '  Fail  of  grounds  on  which  to 
accuse  of  the  treachery,  deceit.' 

1.  75.    Siege.     '  Rank.' 

1.  79.    Weeds.    '  Garments  '  ;  preserved  in  "  widow's  weeds." 
For  "sables"  cf.  III.,  ii.,  123. 

1.86.    Incorps'd.    '  Incorporated,'  'made  into  the  same  body.' 

1.  87.    Topp'd.     'Furnished  a  top  to,'  'surpassed.' 

1.  88.    Forgery.     '  Attempting  the  invention.' 

1.  89.    Come  short.     Apparently  '  should  come  short.' 

1.  99.   Scrimers.     '  Fencers.' 

1.  110.  By  time.     -Is  not,'  that  is,  'inborn.* 

1.  111.   Passages  of  proof.     'Things  that  have  come  to  pass 
in  my  experience.' 

1.  115.   Still.     •  Without  variation.' 

1.116.   Plurisy.     'Plethora.' 

1.  121.   Spendthrift  sigh.     It  was  once  believed  that  every 
sigh  cost  a  drop  of  the  heart's  blood. 

1.  135.  Peruse.     'Scrutinize,'  'inspect  closely.' 

1.  137.   Unbated.     'Minus  the  button  at  the  point.' 

Pass  of  practice.     '  Treacherous  thrust.' 

1.140.   Mountebank.     'Quack.' 

1.  143.   Simples.     '  Herbs.' 


scene  7]  NOTES  243 

1.  145.  Withal.     '  With  it.' 

1.  140.  Contagion.     '  l'oison.' 

1.  149.  Shape.     '  What  we  have  shaped  or  planned. ' 

1.  150.  That.     Represents  "if"  of  the  line  preceding. 

1.  153.  Blast.     'Burst,  like  a  gun,  in  testing.' 

1.  154.  Cunnings.    Cf.  I.,  i.,  173. 

1.  157.  Bouts.     'Rounds.' 

1.159.  The  nonce.     'The  once.' 

1.  160.  Stuck.     '  Thrust.' 

1.  166.  Hoar  leaves.      Since  willow  leaves  are  gray  on  the 
under  side. 

1.  108.  Crow-flowers.     Probably  '  the  crowfoot.' 

1.  109.  Liberal.     'Free-spoken.' 

1.  172.  Sliver.     'Branch.' 

1.  178.  Indu'd.     'Clothed,'  'furnished.' 

1.  181.  Wretch.     Cf.  II.,  ii.,  168. 

1.  186.  Trick.     'Habit.' 

1.190.  Douts.     '  Does  out,'  'extinguishes.' 

Act  V.     Scene  1 

1.  2.   Salvation.     Illiterate  blunder  for  '  destruction.* 
1.  4.   Straight.     '  Straightway.' 


244  NOTES  [Act  V 

2.  4.   Crowner.     '  Coroner.' 

i.  9.   Offendendo.     Blunder  for  defendendo. 

1.12.  Argal.     '  Ergo,'  'therefore.' 

1.  17.   Will  he,  nill  he.     '  Willy-nilly.' 

1.  23.   Quest.     '  Inquest.' 

1.  27.  Say'st.     Contracted  from  '  sayest  it.' 

1.  30.  Even.     '  Fellow.' 

1.  32.  Hold  up.     «  Maintain.' 

1.  41.   Go  to.     '  Come.' 

1.  53.  Unyoke.    '  Quit,'  i.e.  '  as  at  the  end  of  a  day's  work.' 

1.  61.  Yaughan.  Clearly  a  local  reference  ;  perhaps  to  the 
keeper  of  some  alehouse  or  tavern  popular  with  Shakespeare's 
audiences  or  near  the  theatre. 

1.  62.    Stoup.     '  Drinking  cup.' 

1.  65.  The  interjections  here  are  not  syllables  of  the  song, 
but  represent  the  rasping  emissions  of  breath  with  which  the 
grave-digger  accentuates  his  strokes. 

1.  70.  Property  of  easiness.  '  Quality,  accomplishment  of 
ease.' 

1.  75.  Intil.     '  Into.' 

1.  78.  Jowls.     '  Knocks' ;  from  joid,  '  cheek,'  'jaw.' 

L01.   Mazzard.     'Pate.' 


scene  1]  NOTES  245 

1.  94.  Loggats.  '  Little  logs '  ;  name  of  a  game  in  which 
short  and  tapering  billets  of  wood  are  thrown,  much  as  in  quoits, 
toward  a  "Jack." 

1.101.   Quiddits.     '  Subtle,  fine-drawn  distinctions.' 

1.  102.    Quillets.     '  Quibbles.' 

1.  104.   Sconce.     Slang  or  colloquial  for  '  head.' 

.1.107.  "Statutes  and  recognizances"  were  terms  usually 
coupled  in  English  title  deeds,  each  being  essentially  equivalent 
to  '  bond/ 

1.  108.  Fine  of.    ■'  End  of.' 

1.  112.  Indentures.     '  Duplicate  agreements.' 

1.120.  Assurance.  'Safety,'  with  play  on  'warranty,'  the 
legal  sense.  , 

1.  130.  Quick.     '  Living.' 

1.  141.  Absolute.     '  Positive,'  '  exact.' 

1. 140.  Kibe.     '  Chap  or  crack  resulting  from  chilblain.' 

1.201.  Favour.     'Attractiveness.' 

1.  226.  Flaw.     '  Gust.' 

1.  229.  Maimed.     '  Reduced,'  '  defective.' 

1.237.  Warrantise.     'Authority.' 

Doubtful.  "Only  so  far  as  that  she  was  a  lunatic,  and  had 
died  by  her  own  act ;  the  presumption  in  such  a  case  being 
held  to  be  that  the  act  was  wilful,  and  there  being  always  a 


246  NOTES  [Act  V. 

doubt  whether  Christian   burial  could  then  be  demanded.-'—. 

MOBERLY. 

1.  238.  Order.     '  Prescribed  order  of  the  church.' 

1.  240.  For.     '  Instead  of.' 

1.242.  Crants.     '  Garlands,' 'wreaths.' 

1.  248.  Peace-parted.     '  Souls  that  have  departed  in  peace.' 

1.  258.  Ingenious.  Probably  'ingenuous,'  'guileless'  ;  though 
the  sense  of  'acute,'  'keen,'  was  conveyed  in  Shakespeare  by 
the  same  form. 

1.  263.  Pelion.  A  mountain  in  Thessaly,  piled  by  the  giants, 
according  to  the  myth,  upon  Ossa,  as  a  means  of  approach  to 
Olympus,  reputed  the  heaven  of  the  gods. 

Skyish.     'Affecting,  mingling  with,  the  sky.' 

1.271.   Splenitive.     '  Ill-tempered,'  '  peevish.1 

1.  285.  Woo't.  Contracted  for  '  would'st  thou,'  and  used 
here  perhaps  as  a  provincial  or  nursery  word,  contemptuously. 

1.  28(5.  Eisel.  An  ancient  word  for  '  vinegar '  ;  occurring  also 
fn  Sonnet  111,  1.  10.  Because  of  the  original  spelling  (Esill  in 
the  quartos,  Esile  in  the  folios)  it  has  been  considered  by  some 
editors  as  a  misspelling  of  "  Yssel,"  a  branch  of  the  Rhine. 

1.297.  Disclos'd.  'Hatched.'  The  "  couplets "  of  the  dove 
at  first  are  yellow. 

1.  305.     Present  push.     '  Immediate  trial.' 


scene  2]  NOTES  241 

I.  307.  Living.  Probably  'out  of  the  living,'  'from  a  life' 
(cf.  "marble  monument"  as  '  monument  of,  out  of,  marble'), 
as  well  as  'lasting.'  '  Hamlet's  death,  as  wrought  by  the  plan 
proposed,  will  be  a  lasting  memorial  of  Ophelia.' 


Scene  II 

1.  6.   Mutines.     '  Mutineers.' 

Bilboes.  'Stocks,'  for  keeping  several  prisoners  together; 
formed  by  attaching  fetters  to  a  bar  of  iron.  From  Bilboa,  in 
Spain,  once  famous  for  manufactures  of  iron  and  steel. 

1.9.  Pall.     'Grow  tasteless,'  'spoil.' 

1.  13  Scarf d.  'Put  on  as  a  scarf,'  without  use  of  the 
sleeves. 

1.  20.  Larded,     Cf.  IV ..  v.,  £7. 

1.22.  Bugs.     'Bugbears.' 

1.28.   Supervise.     -Inspection,'  'first  reading.' 

1.33.  Statists.  'Statesmen.'  Blackstone  observes :" Most 
of  the  great  men  of  Shakespeare's  time,  whose  autographs  have 
been  preserved,  wrote  very  bad  hands ;  their  secretaries  very 
neat  ones." 

1.  36.  Yeoman's  service.  Bemembered  still  as  the  best  ren- 
dered to  Edward  III.  and  the  Black  Prince  in  the  French  wars, 

1.  43.  Ases.     Probably  meant  to  suggest  also  '  asses. ' 

1.  47.   Shriving-time.     '  Time  for  confession  to  a  priest.' 


L'48  MOTES  [Act  \ 

1.48.   Ordinant.     *  Ordaining,'  '  controlling.' 

1.59.   Insinuation.     'Insinuating,'  '  meddling.' 

1.66.   Proper.     'Own.' 

1.79.   Bravery.     '  Ostentation,'  'display.' 

1.  80.  Chough.     '  Jackdaw ' ;  so  called,  perhaps,  because  of 
ids  euphuistic  chatter. 

1.  110.  Excellent  differences.     '  Different  excellencies.' 

Great  showing.     '  Fine  appearing.' 

1.111.   Feelingly.     'According  to   one's  feeling,'    'without 
reserve.' 

L.  113.  Continent.     '  Containment,'  '  inclusion.' 

1.114.  Definement.     'Definition.' 

1.117.  Yaw.     'Move  unsteadily,'  '  vacillate.' 

1.  119.  Great  article.     '  Great  array  of  articles,  or  qualities.' 

1.  120.  Semblable.     'Likeness.' 

1.124.  Concernancy.     'Pertinency,' 'relevancy.' 

1.  129.  Nomination.     'Mention.' 

1.  148.    Dagger.     Sometimes  held,  in  certain  forms  of  fenc- 
ing, in  the  left  hand,  to  arrest  thrusts  aimed  at  the  head. 


» 


1.151.    Imponed.     'Staked. 

1.  153.    Assigns.     '  Belongings.' 

J.  156.    Liberal  conceit.     '  Artistic  designs. 


scene  2]  NOTES  249 

I.  160.  Hangers.  'Fasteners,'  'straps  attaching  the  sword 
vo  the  belt.' 

II.  169,  170.  '  A  dozen  passes,  in  which  Laertes  shall  not 
exceed  Hamlet  three  hits,'  involves  some  close  computing.  But 
the  arithmetic  seems  correct.  The  King  first  wagers  that,  when 
Hamlet  shall  gain  4|  points,  Laertes  will  not  have  reached  -M 
+  3,  or  7^,  which  with  Hamlet's  4^  equal  12.  The  proportion 
of  1\  :  4|  is  15:  9.  This  the  King  considers,  or  pretends  to  con- 
sider, too  little;  and  he  "lays"  finally  on  12:9,  which  is  \ 
greater. 

1.  190.  That  is,  because  so  eager  to  be  hatched.  The  lap- 
wing was  thus  considered  the  symbol  of  the  brash  and  forward 
fellow. 

1.  191.    *  Comply  with.'     Cf.  II.,  ii.,  379. 

1.195.  Yesty.  'Frothy,'  'superficial.'  "Collection"  is 
'  gathered  knowledge.' 

1.196.  Fond  and  winnowed.     'Foolish  and  subtle.' 

1.  216.  At  the  odds.  '  On  the  terms,  with  the  advantage, 
proposed.' 

1.  220.  Gain-giving.     '  Misgiving.' 

1.  223.  Fit.     'In  condition,'  'ready.' 

1.  246.  Disclaiming  from.     '  Disavowing.' 

1.254.  Voice.     '  Report,'  'opinion.' 

1.  260.  Foil.     ' Set-off.' 

1.  266.  Odds.     Here  '  superior  stake.' 


250  NOTES  [Aci  V 

1.268.  Better'd.     Probably    'improved,'    i.e.    'beyond  any 
late  improvement  of  yours.1 

1.277.  Union.     'Pearl.' 

1.280.  Kettle.     'Kettle-drum.' 

1.  293.  Napkin.     '  Handkerchief.' 

1.294.  Carouses.     'Drinks  deeply.' 

1.304.  Wanton.     'Fool.' 

1.310.  Springe.     Of.  I,  hi.,  115. 

1.  332.  Temper'd.     '  Mixed,'  «  proportioned.' 

1.  340.  Fell.     '  Cruel.' 

1.  357.  O'ercrows.    '  Like  the  cock  over  his  beaten  antagonist.1 

L  360.  Voice.     '  Suffrage,'  'choice.' 

1.  361.  Occurrents.     '  Occurrences.' 

1.  368.  Cries    on    havoc.      '  Declares,    proclaims   a    general 
slaughter.' 


■6' 


1.  369.  Toward.     Cf.  I.,  i.,  77. 

1.  379.  Jump  upon.     Cf.  I.,  i.,  65. 

1.  393.  Rights  of  memory.     '  Remembered  rights. 

1.  396.  Draw  on.     '  Will  be  endorsed  by.' 

1.397.  Presently.     'At  once.' 

1.  399.  On.     '  In  consequence  of.* 

1.  401.  Put  on.     '  Put  to  the  trial.' 

1.  402.  Passage.     'Passing,'  'departure.' 


OUTLINE  QUESTIONS  ON  THE  ART  OF 

HAMLET 


Act  I.     Scene  I 

1.  (a)  in  how  much  light  does  the  scene  open  ?  (6)  "Who  is 
Bernardo,  and  why  does  he  "enter  to"  Francisco  ?  (c)  From 
what  direction   (see  Frontispiece)  could  an  enemy  approach  ? 

(d)  How  far  would  wariness  be  the  requisite  of  such  a  watch  ? 

(e)  Why  should  Bernardo  seem  so  much  in  fear  of  a  man  he 
knows  so  well  ?  And  why  should  he  think  of  challenging  a 
sentinel  ? 

2.  («)  In  "Nay,  answer  me,"  what  word  takes  principal 
stress  ?  (&)  How  does  it  chance  that  Francisco  is  so  readily 
appeased  with  the  answer  to  this  challenge  ?  (c)  Does  there 
seem  to  be  any  point  or  feeling  in  "  You  come  most  carefully 
upon  your  hour"  ?  Would  or  would  not  half  a  minute  more 
or  less  of  delay  ordinarily  occasion,  in  relieving  sentinels,  a 
remark  like  this  ?  (d)  Why  has  the  author  made  Bernardo 
say  (1.  7),"  'Tis  now  struck  twelve  "  ? 

3.  (a)  Why  should  Bernardo  ask  whether  his  friend  has  had 
quiet  guard  ?  (&)  Why  should  it  be  natural  or  worth  while  for 
a  fighting  man  to  notice  or  remember  that  not  so  much  as  a 
mouse  had  stirred  ?  Has  he  been  on  the  outlook  for  noisy  or 
stealthy  intrusion?     (c)  Why  should   Bernardo  say  "Well,11 

251 


252  OUTLINE    QUESTIONS  [Act  I 

and  be  so  formal  toward  the  man  he  has  relieved  ?  And  why 
should  he  send  request  that  the  rivals  of  his  watch  should  come 
to  him  quickly  ?  (d)  Does  the  matter  or  manner  of  his  chal- 
lenge now  to  the  newcomers  seem  or  not  seem  different  from 
his  first?  How,  or  why?  (e)  Does  the  fact  that  there  are 
now  two  persons,  instead  of  one,  affect  the  case  ? 

4.  (a)  Does  Horatio's  response  seem  or  not  seem  to  have 
come  from  like  feelings  (1.  3)  with  Bernardo's  ?  Explain.  Is 
it  likely  that  Horatio  knows  the  countersign  ?  Does  it  seem 
that   he   has   or   has  not  halted   according  to  the  challenge  ? 

(b)  How  great  must  be  the  difference  in  rank  between  Fran- 
cisco and  Marcellus  ?  (c)  Why  does  Francisco  stay  to  bid  the 
rivals  of  Bernardo's  watch  'good  night'?  And  why  (1.  18) 
does  he  say  these  words  again  ? 

5.  (a)  By  what  warrant  did  Horatio,  not  being  Marcellus's 
military  superior,  presume  to  answer  Francisco's  challenge 
(1.  15)  before,  or  instead  of,  Marcellus?  And  why,  now  (11.  19, 
20),  does  he  seemingly  take  precedence,  with  Marcellus,  in 
Bernardo's  thought  ?  (6)  What  can  be  the  reason  of  Bernardo's 
formal  welcome  (1.  20)  to  Horatio  and  Marcellus  ?  (c)  What 
seems  to  prompt  (1.  21)  Marcellus's  question  ?  And  what  docs 
his  first  word  "  What !  "  betray  to  us  ?  (rZ)  What  is  influencing 
Marcellus  in  the  evasiveness  of  his  phrase  "  this  thing"  ? 

0.  (a)  Which  is  more  definite  and  visual,  "this  thing,"  or 
"  this  dreaded  sight"  ?  Why  should  Marcellus  say  "  dreaded  " 
rather  than  'dreadful'?  (b)  What  does  "entreated"  (1.  26) 
imply  as  to  the  belief  of  the  speaker  in  the  thing  he  refers  to? 

(c)  Why  does  he  (1.  27)  say  "minutes"  rather  than  'hours,' 
•or  why  is  anything  more  than  'this  night'   necessary  to  his 


scene  1]  OUTLINE     QUESTIONS  253 

meaning?  (r?)  How  does  "this  apparition"  change  the  con- 
ception that  we  have  been  framing  hitherto  ?  (e)  Who  are 
referred  to  (11.  25,  27)  by  "  us  "  ? 

7.  («)  What  is  implied  (1.  31)  in  "  once  again''''  ?  And  why 
should  Bernardo,  who  is  on  guard  duty,  suggest  that  they  sit 
down  ?  (6)  What  mood  is  apparent  in  Horatio's  "  Well,  sit 
we  down,  and  let  us  hear''''?  (c)  With  whose  feelings,  Hora^ 
tio's  or  Bernardo's,  do  we  find  ourselves  here  more  in  accord  ? 
(d)  Why  should  Bernardo  say  (1.  35)  "last  night  of  all"? 
How  many  nights  does  this  "  all  "  include  ?  (e)  How  do  you 
account  for  Bernardo's  lofty  language  as  he  begins?  Is  he  a 
poet  ?  (/)  Why  does  not  the  author  let  him  complete  his 
paragraph  ? 

8.  (a)  After  we  have  seen  the  Ghost,  what  is  the  importance, 
with  reference  to  the  preceding  part  of  the  scene,  of  (1.  40)  the 
word  "  again"  ?  (b)  Of  what  significance  to  the  scene  is  also 
what  is  told  us  in  the  first  and  in  the  last  half  of  the  next  line  ? 
(c)  Why  does  the  author  have  Marcellus  bring  out  (1.  42)  to 
us  that  Horatio  is  a  "  scholar"  ?  (d)  How  is  it  that  both  Ber- 
nardo and  Marcellus,  when  they  speak  (11.  42,  43,  45)  to  Hora- 
tio, address  him  by  his  name,  putting  it  last  of  all  ?  If  they 
had  made  '  Horatio '  the  first  instead  of  the  last  word,  would 
or  would  not  onr  impressions  of  their  feeling  have  been  different  ? 

9.  (a)  Why  should  Horatio  hesitate  so  long,  and  need  so  much 
urging,  before  he  speaks  to  the  Ghost  ?  (b)  What  do  you  say 
of  the  matter  and  the  manner  of  his  challenge?  (c)  Why  does 
he  (1.49)  say  "march"?  (d)  What  sort  of  man  is  it  clear 
that  this  King  must  have  been  ?  (e)  How  must  the  Ghost  have 
shown  (1.  45)  that  it  would  be  spoken  to  ?     (/)  What  is  signi- 


254  OUTLINE    QUESTIONS  [Act  I 

tied  by  the  fact  that,  after  it  is  addressed,  it  (1.  50)  seems  dis- 
satisfied ?  (f/)  What  action  appears  to  have  accompanied 
(1.  51)  Horatio's  last  words  to  the  Ghost? 

10.  (a)  Why  was  it  that  Bernardo  and  Marcellus  were  not 
silenced  at  (1.  40)  the  entry  of  the  Ghost,  and  seemed  so  innch 
less  frightened  than  Horatio  ?  How  did  they  probably  behave 
when  they  saw  it  two  nights  ago  ?  (b)  Has  Francisco  seen  the 
Ghost  ?  Why  did  the  author,  at  the  opening  of  the  scene, 
exchange  him  for  an  '  officer '  ?  (c)  How  many  hints  and  signs 
are  to  be  noted,  from  the  beginning  till  (1.  40)  the  coming  of 
the  Ghost,  of  the  influence  exercised  over  the  soldiers  by  the 
"dreaded  sight"  ? 

11.  («)  What  is  signified  by  the  fact  (1.  53)  that  Horatio  yet 
trembles  and  looks  pale  after  the  Ghost  is  gone  ?  (b)  What  is 
the  effect  of  Horatio's  change  of  feeling  (cf.  1.  30)  upon  our- 
selves? (c)  What  is  the  effect  of  his  identifying  (11.  60,  61) 
the  very  armor  that  the  king  appears  to  wear?  (d)  Why 
should  the  ghost  of  the  dead  King  present  itself  in  armour 
rather  than  in  the  palace  clothing  worn  probably  when  he  met 
his  death?  (c)  What  suggestions  as  to  the  King's  character 
come  from  the  allusions  made  by  Horatio  in  this  paragraph  ? 

12.  (a)  Why  does  the  author  have  Marcellus  remark  (11.  65. 
66)  that  the  previous  visits  have  been  like  this  one,  and  at  a 
closely  corresponding  point  of  time?  (b)  Does  Horatio's  infer- 
ence (11.  68,  69)  enlarge  or  lessen  the  effect  on  us  of  the  Ghost's 
coming'.'  (c)  What  does  the  author  manage  to  embody  (11.  70- 
79)  in  Marcellus's  questions?  (<!)  Why  does  the  author  have 
Horatio  answer  (11.  70-107)  at  such  length  ?  (o)  What  is  the 
effect  on  us,  with  reference  to  the  Ghost,  of  die  preparations  as 


8CBNB  1]  OUTLINE    QUESTIONS  255 

now  accounted  for  ?  What  must  be  the  nature  and  magni- 
tude of  the  "eruption"  (1.  69)  that  Horatio  has  imagined f 
(/)  Against  whom  (1.  106)  is  this  "watch"  maintained? 
How  long  since,  probably,  was  it  ordered  ? 

13.  (a)  Are  we  to  understand  that  Marcellus  and  Bernardo 
are  much  acquainted  with  Roman  history  ?  What  is  Horatio's 
purpose  (11.  113-120)  in  saying  what  he  does  to  them'.' 
(b)  What  effect  does  the  author  wish  to  produce  by  making 
him  tell  these  things,  and  on  whom  ?  (c)  What  word  in  1.  120 
has  the  principal  stress  ?  (d)  What  portents,  '  demonstrated 
(11.  124,  125)  to  the  Danish  climatures  and  population,'  can  or 
must  Horatio  have  had  in  mind  ? 

14.  (a)  Why  should  the  Ghost  appear  a  second  time  ?  Did 
it  come  back  on  either  of  the  nights  preceding?  (b)  What 
difference  between  the  preparation  made  by  the  author  for  the 
present  and  for  the  earlier  coming  of  the  Ghost?  (c)  Does  it 
seem  the  same  Ghost  that  it  was  before  ?  Has  its  former  com 
ing  staled  its  effect  upon  us  now  ?  Explain,  (d)  What,  from 
the  word  "cross"  (1.  127)  are  we  to  understand  is  Horatio's 
movement  ?  (e)  How,  appai'ently,  does  the  Ghost  behave  (cf. 
"  Stay,  illusion  !  ")  in  consequence  ? 

15.  (a)  Do  you  find  Horatio's  feeling  and  manner  toward 
the  Ghost  changed  from  what  they  were  before  ?  Give  reasons, 
(ft)  On  the  previous  entry  of  the  Ghost,  the  subordination  to 
it  of  Horatio  was  very  palpable.  Do  you  lind  or  not  find  a 
like  subordination  of  Horatio  now?  (c)  Does  it  seem  that 
Marcellus  attempts  (cf.  1.  141)  to  beat  down  the  Ghost?  Can 
you  explain  how  Horatio  has  assented,  believing  this  really  to 
be  a  spirit,  to  such  a  preposterous  idea  ?    (d)  Why  is  Marcellus 


256  OUTLINE    QUESTIONS  [Act  I. 

the  one,  rather  than  Horatio,  to  recognize  (11.  143,  144)  the 
indignity  of  their  purpose  ? 

16.  («)  What  is  the  point,  dramatically,  of  (1.  138)  the  cock 
crowing,  and  of  the  starting  (1.  148)  of  the  Ghost  ?  (b)  Why 
is  Horatio  made  to  repeat  such  a  legend  as  (11.  149-loG)  now 
follows,  and  express  it  in  such  language  ?  (c)  What  effect  does 
Marcellus's  story  (11.  158-104)  have  upon  our  feelings  con- 
cerning  the   Tightness  and    normalness  of   the  Ghost's  visits? 

(d)  What  view  does  Hora.io's  imagery  picture  to  us  (11.  lii'i. 
1(37)  of  the  eastern  sky  ?  How  do  the  colors  fit  the  scene  that 
is  now  finishing?  (e)  Why  should  these  officers  think  of  con- 
senting (i.  174)  that  what  they  have  seen  should  be  reported  to 
Hamlet  instead  of  to  the  King?  (/)  Does  "  loves"  (1.  173)  mean 
anything  here,  apparently,  especially  with  reference  to  Mar- 
cellus  or  Bernardo  ? 

Scene  II 

1.  (a)  Are  such  inversions  and  strained  constructions  as  we 
see  here  in  the  first  three  lines  to  be  found  in  Horatio's  last 
paragraph,  or  elsewhere,  in  the  first  scene?  (b)  What  does 
1.  4  mean  ?  And  how  does  the  meaning  picture  itself  in  thought  ? 
(c)  What  word  in  1.  0  has  chief  stress?  (d)  What  evidently 
has  happened  since  the  last  gathering  of  the  court?  And, 
judging  from  11.   10-13,  what  are  the  feelings  of  the  speaker  ? 

(e)  How  must  the  looks  and  manner  of  a  King  that  talks  like 
this  agree  with  what  we  have  conceived  of  the  countenance  and 
bearing,  through  the  Ghost,  of  the  dead  Hamlet? 

2  (a)  Does  the  King's  reference  (11.  14-16)  to  his  court  seem 


scene  2]  OUTLINE    QUESTIONS  257 

or  not  to  help  the  situation  ?  {b)  Why  should  he  (1.  16)  say 
"all"  ?  (c)  What  new  reason  is  now  apparent  why  Horatio 
was  made  (11.  80-104)  to  repeat  the  court  whispers  to  us  in  the 
first  scene?  (d)  Why  does  the  King  omit  allusion  (11.  17-25), 
when  he  speaks  of  being  'pestered  with  messages,'  to  the  army 
that  Fortinbras  is  gathering  ?  (e)  How  would  the  elder  Ham- 
let, judging  from  his  course  with  the  father  of  this  aggressor, 
have  handled  the  present  matter?  (/)  Is  the  King's  course 
perilous  ?  To  what  extent  has  he  asked  consent  or  counsel  from 
his  nobles? 

3.  (a)  How  has  it  happened  that  the  younger  Hamlet,  who 
is  standing  next  the  Queen,  does  not  succeed  his  father  as  King 
of  Denmark  ?  (b)  Would  there  or  would  there  not  be  naturally 
a  party,  among  the  younger  nobility,  favoring  such  succession  ? 
(c)  Is  there  or  is  there  not  apparently  significance  in  the  fact 
that  the  King  now  (1.  42)  addresses  Laertes,  instead  of  Ham- 
let, first?  (d)  What  are  your  impressions  of  (11.  43-50)  the 
kingliness  and  dignity  of  this  paragraph  ?  (e)  What  can 
Laertes's  father  have  done  for  the  new  King  to  merit  (11.  47- 
49)  the  acknowledgments  now  made  ?  (/)  What  must  we  sus- 
pect to  be  the  character  (1.  55)  of  the  "thoughts  and  wishes" 
in  this  young  man  that  bend  toward  France  so  strongly  ? 

4.  (a)  What  do  you  say  of  a  father  who,  after  (11.  58-60) 
having  had  a  "slow  leave"  and  "hard  consent"  wrung  from 
him  by  his  son,  beseeches  (1.  61)  for  the  unwished  thing  more 
than  the  son  does  ?  (6)  What  is  the  point  or  pertinency  (1.  62) 
in  "time  be  thine"  ?  What  obligation  does  the  King  remit? 
(c)  Is  the  King  prompted  to  address  Hamlet  (1.  64)  as  his  son 
probably  to  please    Hamlet    or  for    effect    upon   the   court? 


258  OUTLINE    QUESTIONS  [Act  I. 

((?)  What  was  the  law,  as  the  author's  public  understood  it 
touching  marriage  with  a  deceased  brother's  wife?  And  what 
is  consequently  Hamlet's  point  (1.  65)  in  the.  first  and  in  the 
last  half  of  his  aside?  (e)  What  does  the  King  probably 
think  Hamlet  means  (1.  07)  by  "  too  much  i'  the  sun  "  ?  Why 
does  not  the  King  remark  further,  and  why  does  the  Queen 
speak  in  his  stead  ? 

5.  (a)  Is  the  court  in  mourning  or  in  marriage  dress  ? 
What  (1.  08)  is  Hamlet  wearing?  (6)  How  (11.69-71)  has  lie 
evidently  been  behaving  since  the  opening  of  the  sceiu  '.' 
(c)  Which  in  consequence  is  become  the  more  important  figure, 
the  King  or  the  nephew  of  the  King  ?  (d)  In  what  sense  does 
Hamlet  intend  apparently  that  his  "common''  (1.  74)  shall  be 
taken?  (e)  Why  does  Hamlet  speak  of  his  cloak  (1.  77)  as 
"inky"?  Does  it  appear  that  he  has  tried  to  procure  one 
only  moderately  funereal  ? 

6.  («)  What  appears  to  be  Hamlet's  point  (1.  78)  in  "  cus- 
tomary "  ?  Has  the  court  probably  put  on  mourning  or  not 
since  Hamlet's  father's  death  ?  (6)  Why  does  Hamlet  enu- 
merate all  these  marks  of  grief,  and  then  say  (1.  83)  "  these 
indeed  seem  "  ?  Is  he  personal  here  ?  And  how  does  he  prob- 
ably say  these  lines?     Is  he  looking  still  upon   the  ground? 

(c)  Why   is  it  the  King  and   not  his   mother   that    answe  - 

(d)  Does  there  seem  to  be  any  reason  why  the  King's  language 
now  goes  back  (cf.  11.  90,  92,  0:\,  112.  114)  .to  the  strained  and 
pedantic  quality  of  the  first  paragraph  in  this  scene  ?  (c)  Are 
there  apparently  (1.  109)  any  other  "  immediates  "  who  might 
be  Hamlet's  rivals  for  the  succession?  Why  should  the  King 
say  this  ? 


&  ene  2]  OUTLINE    QUESTIONS  259 

7.  (a)  Does  it  seem  or  not  seem  that  the  King  would  have 
said  the  same  things  to  Hamlet,  and  in  much  the  same  way,  if 
the  court  were  not  in  hearing?  (ft)  What  was  probably  the 
King's  motive  (11.  112-117)  in  trying  to  keep  Hamlet  from 
return  to  Wittenberg?  (c)  How  does  Hamlet  apparently  re- 
ceive this  rather  unkingly  beseechment  ?     Why  is  he  silent  ? 

d)  What  words  in  the  first  line  that  the  Queen  now  says  to  him 
have  stress  ?  Does  her  request  seem  to  be  prompted  by  the  same 
motive  as  the  King's?  (e)  What  word  in  Hamlet's  reply  to  her 
has  emphasis  ?     Does  he  in  making  it  look  at  his  mother  ? 

8.  (a)  Is  what  Hamlet  has  said  (1.  120)  "a  loving  and  a 
fair"  compliance  ?  What  must  the  lords  and  attendants  have 
thought?  (ft)  What  does  the  King  mean  (1.  122)  by  his  last 
words  to  Hamlet,  and  why  does  he  say  them  ?  (c)  Why  does 
he  so  summarily  close  the  audience  ?  (d)  Is  he  apparently  sin- 
cere in  (11.  123-128)  his  professions  of  pleasure  ?  And  if  not, 
how  far  must  he  expect  those  who  hear  him  to  be  deceived  ? 
(e)  Do  you  think,  with  some  who  thus  explain,  that  the  King 
is  merely  eager  here  for  a  carouse,  and  takes  Hamlet's  consent 
genuinely  as  an  occasion  ? 

9.  (a)  What  exactly  (11. 129,  130)  is  the  wish  that  Hamlet  now 
gives  expression  to  ?  (ft)  According  to  your  impressions,  quan- 
titatively and  qualitatively,  of  this  man's  nature,  do  you  think 
him  or  not  think  him  misanthropic,  or  jaded  and  pessimistic 
?rom  wrong  habits  of  living?  (c)  How  strongly  does  it  seem, 
from  (11.  131,  132)  his  next  sentence,  that  Hamlet  has  set  his 
>ieart  upon  having  his  rights  to  the  throne  of  Denmark  recog- 
nized and  vindicated  ?  (<f)  What  is  the  fate  (11.  135,  136)  of 
things  choice  and  refined  in  nature,  in  an  unweeded  garden? 


260  OUTLINE    QUESTIONS  [Act  I 

What  fate  of  this  sort  has  he  in  mind?  (e)  After  making  us 
acquainted  with  the  general  grounds  of  Hamlet's  depression, 
how  does  the  author  tell  us  the  specific  cause  of  his  present 
exasperation  ? 

10.  (a)  What  points  are  added  now  (11.  140-142)  to  the 
earlier  characterization  of  Hamlet's  father  ?  (6)  Does  it  seem 
that  the  Queen  appreciated  or  did  not  appreciate  the  rare  worth 
and  devotion  of  her  former  husband?  (c)  From  what  is  said 
here  and  (1.  138)  earlier,  how  long  do  we  see  the  King  has 
waited,  since  the  marriage,  before  calling  his  court  together? 
Was  it  called  together  before  his  marriage  ?  (d)  Did  you  find 
yourself  in  full  sympathy,  or  not,  with  Hamlet,  in  his  behavior 
toward  his  mother  and  the  King,  m  the  first  part  of  this  scene? 
(e)  Have  your  feelings  toward  them  or  him  in  any  way  since 
then  been  altered?  (/)  How  strongly  do  you  judge  that  Ham- 
let, from  what  has  happened  in  this  scene,  feels  the  obligation  to 
hold  his  tongue  ? 

11.  (a)  Why  does  the  author  bring  in  Horatio  and  his  com- 
panions to  Hamlet  here,  rather  than  at  some  point  earlier  ox- 
later?  (6)  What  is  apparent  from  Horatio's  manner  of  salut- 
ing Hamlet,  and  Hamlet's  response,  as  to  their  relations  hith- 
erto ?  (c)  Why  does  Hamlet  treat  Marcellus  differently  from 
Kernardo?  Why  should  he  speak  to  them  at  all?  (d)  WThat 
of  the  time  (1.  167)  of  day  at  which  these  men  find  Hamlet? 
Is  the  delay  (cf.  11.  174,  175  of  the  first  scene)  to  be  explained? 
(p.)  What  must  have  kept  Horatio,  who  has  been. here  (1.  176) 
since  the  King's  funeral,  from  meeting  Hamlet  before  ?  (/)  Can 
you  guess,  from  what  is  said  in  the  first  scene  by  himself,  and 
in  him  now,  to  what  country  Horatio  belongs? 


scene  2]  OUTLINE    QUESTIONS  261 

12.  (a)  How  does  Hamlet  chance  (1.  184)  to  think,  in  con- 
nection with  the  present  scandals,  of  his  father?  (b)  When 
must  Horatio  (1.  186)  have  "  once"  seen  (cf.  i.  60-63)  the  elder 
Hamlet?  (c)  What  is  to  be  said  of  the  effect  (11.  190,  101) 
upon  Hamlet  of  Horatio's  revelation?  (c2)  What  are  your 
impressions  of  the  bearing,  and  breeding,  and  of  the  intellectual 
strength  and  energy  of  this  prince  ?  (e)  Does  the  author  seem 
to  subordinate  Horatio,  in  his  account  (11.  196-212)  of  the 
Ghost's  visits,  or  in  later  paragraphs,  to  the  advantage  of  ins 
hero  ?  (/)  What  new  items  or  impressions,  concerning  the 
Ghost's  behavior,  does  the  report  of  Horatio  furnish  ?  (g)  Is 
there  to  be  any  explanation  why  the  officers  (11.  206,  207) 
imparted  the  story,  in  dreadful  secrecy,  to  Horatio?  Is  or  not 
this  in  strict  accord  with  the  allegiance  owed,  by  the  army,  to 
the  new-crowned  King  ? 

13.  (a)  How  does  Hamlet  apparently  treat  the  implication 
(11. 222,  223)  that  Horatio  and  the  officers  thought  it  in  their  duty 
to  let  him  know  what  they  had  seen  ?  (&)  When  does  Hamlet 
make  use  of  the  knowledge  (1.  225)  that  these  same  men  hold 
the  next  watch  ?  Why  does  he  wait  ?  (c)  Why  does  Hamlet 
ask  the  question  in  1.  229  ?  (d)  Why  should  he  inquire  (1.  231) 
whether  his  father  looked  frowningly  ?  (e)  What  of  Marcel- 
lus's  and  Bernardo's  disagreement  with  Horatio  (1.  240),  as  to 
the  time  of  the  Ghost's  stay,  as  judged  by  the  visit  that  we  saw  ? 
Time  the  lines  spoken  while  it  stays.  (/)  What  makes  Hamlet 
expect  "no"  (1.  240)  as  the  answer  to  his  next  question  ?  Why 
cannot  Bernardo  and  Marcellus  answer  it? 

11.  (a)  Why  does  not  Hamlet  seem  (1.  243)  more  confident 
that  he  shall  see  the  apparition  ?     (b)   Why  does  Hamlet  ask 


262  OUTLINE    QUESTIONS  [Act  1 

(1.  248)  that  the  visits  of  the  Ghost  be  kept  unrnentioned  ?  And 
why  (1.  247)  "if"?  Does  he  show  signs  anywhere  that  he 
doubts  the  word  of  these  men?  (c)  Why  does  he  allow  no 
further  talk  ?  (d)  Why  should  he  be  unwilling  (11.  253,  254 
to  encourage  the  use  of  terms  belonging  to  the  dialect  of  a  sub- 
ject? (e)  Does  "spirit"  or  "arms"  (1.  255)  have  superior 
stress?  (/)  Why  should  not  the  inference  which  Hamlet 
draws  (1.  250)  from  the  point  involved  in  this  have  been  clear 
also  to  Horatio?  (g)  On  what  grounds  rests  his  confidence 
(11.  257,  258)  that  wickedness,  no  matter  how  covered,  will 
betray  itself?  What  kind  of  nature,  in  this  man,  does  such 
confidence  seem  to  argue? 

Scene  III 

1.  (a)  With  what  incident  in  the  last  scene  is  the  opening 
paragraph  here  connected  ?  (b)  How  much  time  has  pro!  >al  >ly 
elapsed  since  then  ?  (c)  Does  the  exhortation  (11.  2-4)  of 
Laertes  to  his  sister  seem  to  argue  an  old  or  a  new  interest  in 
her  welfare  ?  Does  it  seem  from  (1.  4)  her  answer  that  she  has 
been  remiss  in  writing  to  her  brother  hitherto?  (d)  What  first 
impressions  of  Ophelia's  nature  come  to  you  from  (11.  4,  10) 
her  answers  to  her  brother  ? 

2.  (a)  Would  the  court  be  likely  to  judge  Hamlet's  for- 
tunes, after  witnessing  his  conduct  toward  the  King  in  the  last 
scene,  to  be  in  the  ascendant,  or  not?  (b)  Does  there  seem  to 
be  any  point  in  Laertes's  bidding  his  sister  (11.  6,  10)  "  hold  "  and 
"think"  Hamlet's  attentions  unserious,  unpermanent,  in.-i 

of  affirming  them  to  be  such  ?     (c)  What,  told  in  more  model  i 


scene  3]  OUTLINE    QUESTIONS  263 

language,  is  the  point  in  11.  13,  14  ?  (d)  Does  it  seem  or  not 
seem  that  Laertes  expects  (11.  19-21)  that  Hamlet  will  be  one 
day  King  of  Denmark?  What  "  body  "  (1.  23)  must  give  con- 
sent? (e)  Do  you  think  that  Laertes  considers  Hamlet  easily 
capable  of  dishonorable  action  ?  Does  it  appear  that  Ophelia  is 
in  much  need,  or  not,  of  the  new  exhortations  (11.  39-44)  that 
now  follow?  (/)  What  impressions  do  you  find  have  come 
concerning  the  intellectual  acuteness  and  strength,  as  well  as 
the  character  of  this  man  ?  How  does  he  seem  to  compare 
with  Hamlet  ? 

3.  (a)  What  does  Ophelia's  manner  of  acknowledging  (11. 
4-">,  46)  this  advice  further  show  as  to  her  nature  and  disposi- 
tion ?  (b)  Some  readers  have  thought  Ophelia  rather  wanting 
in  intelligence  and  in  strength  of  character.  What  does  the 
residue  (11.  46-51)  of  her  answer  argue  as  to  either  of  these 
points  ?  (c)  Why  is  Laertes  (1.  52)  now  in  haste,  and  why  has 
he  not  begun  to  hurry  sooner  ?  (d)  What  seems  to  make  him 
say  "my"  instead  of  'our'  father?  (e)  To  whom  does  he 
apparently  address  (11.  53,  54)  his  last  words  ?  And  what  do 
the  two  lines  really  mean  ? 

4.  (a)  Do  Polonius's  first  words  here  (11.  55-59)  seem  or  not 
seem  prompted  by  unusual  affection  ?  (6)  What  does  the  'few- 
ness '  (1.  58)  of  these  precepts,  as  well  as  their  brilliancy,  indi- 
cate concerning  the  character  of  the  speaker  ?  Did  you  ever 
know  a  father  who,  in  taking  leave  of  his  son,  would  talk  like 
this  ?  (c)  How  far  is  the  manner  in  which  Laertes  (1.  82) 
responds  to  his  father's  counsels  significant  ?  (d)  How  does 
Laertes  apparently  part  from  Ophelia  ?  Does  he  kiss  or 
embrace   her,    or   merely   say    "farewell"?     (e)   What   seem 


264  OUTLINE    QUESTIONS  [Act  1 

to  be  Laertes's  years  ?     Is  Ophelia  older  or  younger,  and  how 
much  ? 

5.  (a)  What,  exactly,  does  Ophelia  promise  in  her  last  words 
to  her  brother  ?  (?>)  Do  you  rind  any  hint  of  character  (1.  88) 
in  Polonius's  question  to  his  daughter  ?  (c)  What  does  he 
seem  to  mean  (1.  91)  by  "of  late"  ?  (d)  Is  there  or  is  there 
not  reason  to  suspect  (cf.  1.  90,  "bethought'1)  that  Laertes  is 
the  one  who  has  spoken  about  Ophelia  ?  (e)  What  fault  has 
Polonius  (1.  93)  to  find  with  Ophelia's  manner  of  giving  Ham- 
let audience  ?  (/)  Were  the  elder  Hamlet  still  living,  does  it 
seem  or  not  seem  likely  that  Polonius  would  be  as  concerned 
as  now  ?  Had  he  not  heard  Laertes's  hint  (11.  84,  85)  of  cau- 
tion, would  he  have  spoken  ? 

6.  (a)  Do  you  understand  that  Polonius  really  means  (1. 
101)  to  pooh-pooh  at  the  idea  of  any  such  thing  as  affection? 
(b)  Are  you  sure,  from  Ophelia's  answer  (1.  104).  how  she 
regards  her  father's  words?  (c)  What  "true  pay"  does  he 
seem  to  have  in  mind?  (d)  Does  Ophelia's  answer  (11.  110, 
111)  appear  to  be  made  in  defence  of  herself  or  of  Hamlet 
mainly  ?  (e)  Do  you  seem  to  get  any  further  glimpse,  now 
(11.  115-120),  of  Polonius's  character?  (/)  Does  it  seem  that 
he  intended,  when  he  began  (11.  120-123)  to  make  restrictions, 
to  ordain  (11.  131-134)  such  a  stern  conclusion  ?  (gr)  Do  you 
or  do  you  not  think  that  his  reasons  for  speaking  to  Ophelia 
are  the  same  as  prompted  Laertes  at  the  opening  of  the  scene  ? 
(h)  Does  Ophelia  (1.  136)  propose  obedience  because  of  what 
has  been  implied  to  her  by  Laertes  or  her  father,  or  merely 
because  commanded  ? 


scene  4]  OUTLINE    QUESTIONS  265 


Scene  IV 

1.  (a)  Do  you  find  your  interest  in  the  Ghost  and  its  secret 
lessened  by  the  intervention  of  the  last  two  scenes?  How  much 
time  has  actually  elapsed  ?  (6)  Are  there  indications  that 
either  Hamlet  or  Horatio  is  under  excitement  ?  Should  we, 
under  the  same  circumstances,  perhaps  have  been  ?  (c)  Is  the 
weather  probably  colder  (1.  1)  than  in  the  first  scene  ?  And  why 
does  the  author  have  Hamlet  (1.  3)  inquire,  '  What  hour  now,' 
and  presently  (1.  4)  correct  the  man  of  whom  he  asks  ?  (d)  With 
what  in  scene  ii.  does  the  revelry  (1.  6)  connect  itself  ?  Why 
has  the  author  made  us  hear  the  sounds  of  it  just  here  ? 

2.  (a)  How  is  it  that  Horatio  (1.  7)  does  not  know  what  '  this 
means'  ?  (&)  Why  does  not  Hamlet  answer  Horatio's  question 
(11.  8-12)  with  something  of  the  animus  that  we  know  he  feels? 
(c)  Do  you  find  Hamlet's  later  paragraph  (11.  13-38)  trenchant 
and  lively  ?  Looking  back  over  his  earlier  utterances,  both 
here  and  in  the  second  scene,  do  you  or  do  you  not  find  any- 
thing similar  ?  (d)  Can  you  account  for  Hamlet's  pronouncing 
such  a  paragraph  just  here  ? 

3.  (a)  Do  you  judge,  from  (1.  38)  Horatio's  words,  that  the 
Ghost  takes  him,  or  the  company,  by  surprise  ?  (&)  How  does 
Hamlet's  manner  of  accepting  the  Ghost's  presence  differ  from 
Horatio's  in  the  first  scene  ?  (c)  What  movement  seems  to 
have  accompanied  (1.  39)  Hamlet's  first  words  ?  (d)  What  do 
you  think  are  Hamlet's  feelings  as  (11.  40-57)  he  addresses  his 
father's  spirit  ?  What  different  sentiments  do  you  seem  to 
find  ?    (e)  Are  there  pauses  anywhere,  as  he  speaks  these  lines  ? 

4.  (a)  Does  the  beckoning  of  the  Ghost  seem  to  be  in  re- 


266  OUTLINE    QUESTIONS  [Act  i 

sponse  to  the  whole  that  Hamlet  has  said,  or  to  some  part  of 
it  ?  (ft)  Why  did  it  not  beckon  Horatio  in  the  first  scene  ?  And 
how  far  do  you  think  Marcellus  then  right  in  (1.  147)  judging 
that  the  Ghost  was  about  to  speak?  (c)  How  is  it  that  Horatio, 
and  not  Hamlet,  understands  the  Ghost's  wish  ?  (d)  Do  you 
think  that  Horatio  would  or  would  not  have  willed,  in  Hamlet's 
place,  to  follow?  (e)  Why  does  not  Hamlet  at  once  go  with 
the  Ghost  ?     How  far  does  his  delay  seem  due  to  indecision  ? 

5.  (a)  What  are  Horatio's  and  Marcellus's  attitude  and 
looks,  as  (11.  64-78)  Hamlet  is  pleaded  with  ?  (ft)  Is  there  or 
is  there  not  dramatic  advantage  here  in  the  delay  ?  (c)  When 
does  the  Ghost  (1.  78)  wave  Hamlet  last  ?  Are  we  to  suppose 
that  it  has  heard  Horatio's  protests  ?  (d)  Is  Marcellus's  anxi- 
ety (1.  80)  for  Hamlet's  safety  to  be  recognized  or  not  as  merely 
personal?  (e)  What  does  Hamlet  mean  (1.81)  in  "  My  fate 
cries  out  "  ?     What,  too  (1.  84),  in  "  Still  am  I  called  "  ? 

6.  (a)  Have  you  conceived  Hamlet  as  larger  of  build  and 
stature  than  Horatio  or  Marcellus  ?  (ft)  Do  you  or  do  you 
not  think  that  these  men  do  their  best  to  hold  Hamlet  back  ? 
(c)  'How  far  is  their  failure  in  this  probably  due.  beyond  his 
natural  strength,  to  (11.  81,  83)  his  present  resolution  ?  (d)  What 
do  you  say  (1.  8G)  of  his  manner  of  addressing  the  Ghost  ?  Is 
it  imperious,  or  kingly,  or  reckless  ?  (e)  Where  did  the  author 
show  proof  to  us  of  Hamlet's  moral  strength?  Where  of  his 
mental  ?  Why  did  he  not  present  him  as  a  hero  of  the  strong 
arm  first?  (/)  Are  you  persuaded  that  Hamlet  is  of  a  tem- 
perament too  susceptible  to  accomplish  anything,  or  do  yon 
think  he  will  be  equal  to  the  fate  that  calls  him  ?  (g)  What 
do  you  say  of  the  management  of  the  close,  after  Hamlet  ami 


scene  5J  OCT  LINE    QUESTIONS  267 

the  Ghost  withdraw  ?    (ft)  Why  did  not  Horatio  and  Marcellus 
at  once  follow  after  ? 

Scene  V 

1.  (a)  Why  is  the  Ghost  leading  Hamlet  away  ?  And  why 
does  it  wish  to  withdraw  still  farther?  (6)  Did  you  think, 
when  Hamlet  went  out,  that  he  would  refuse  to  follow  as  far  as 
the  Ghost  might  lead  ?  Why  has  the  author  thus  subordinated 
the  Ghost  to  Hamlet  here  ?  (c)  Why,  too,  does  he  make  the 
Ghost  explain  whence  it  comes,  before  revealing  (1.  9)  its  iden- 
tity ?  (d)  How  much  of  the  old  affection  between  father  and 
son  is  apparent  in  this  dialogue  ?  (c)  Why  should  a  soul  in 
purgatory  wish  to  effect  revenge  ? 

2.  («)  What  is  the  purpose  of  having  the  Ghost  speak  fur- 
ther (11.  10-22)  concerning  its  torments  ?  (6)  What  is  the 
importance  of  (11.  23-40)  what  now  follows?  (c)  What  do 
you  say  of  the  effect  (11.  29-31)  of  even  the  first  part  of  the 
revelation  upon  Hamlet  ?  (d)  When  must  Hamlet  have  begun 
(cf.  11.  8,'  26)  to  divine  (1.  40)  the  truth?  (e)  What  feelings 
does  the  author  intend  (11.  42-52)  that  we  shall  entertain 
toward  the  King  ?  (/)  Why  is  not  the  murder  enough  ?  Why 
lias  the  author  made  the  Queen  to  have  been  unfaithful  ?  Is  it 
not  unreasonable,  improbable  ? 

3.  (a)  What  do  you  say  of  the  strength  and  dignity  of  the 
Ghost's  diction  ?  Compared  with  Hamlet's,  does  it  seem  more 
than  human  ?  (b)  Does  Hamlet's  fattier,  according  to  his 
statements  here,  seem  to  have  lived  (cf.  11.  12,  13)  an  unusually 
sinful  life  ?     (c)  What  seems  to  be  (11.  80,  81)  the  chief  con- 


268  OUTLINE    QUESTIONS  [Act  I. 

cern  of  the  Ghost  ?  (d)  In  spite  of  all  the  Ghost's  abhorrence  of 
the  King's  crimes,  and  of  all  its  eagerness  to  be  revenged,  what 
two  restrictions  does  it  insist  upon  ?  (e)  What  are  your  impres- 
sions as  to  the  manner  of  the  Ghost's  exit?  Does  it  weaken  the 
effect?  (/)  What  seems  to  be  the  temper,  the  disposition,  of 
this  Ghost,  and  why  so  at  variance  apparently  with  the  character 
of  the  elder  Hamlet?  (g)  Why  has  not  the  author  made  this 
(iv.,  40)  "a  spirit  of  health"  instead  of  "a  goblin  damned"  ? 

4.  (a)  What  mood,  what  feelings  lie  at  the  bottom  (11.  92- 
95)  of  Hamlet's  outcry  ?  (6)  What  change  comes  (1.  95)  at 
"Remember  thee"?  (c)  Why  does  he  think  (1.  105)  of  his 
mother  first  ?  (d)  Why  should  Hamlet  select  (1.  Ill)  the  last 
four  words  said  by  the  Ghost,  rather  than  (11.  25,  80,  81)  the 
terrible  demands  for  revenge,  as  his  "word"  ?  (e)  Of  what 
in  Macbeth  does  the  calling  (11.  112,  113)  of  Marcellus  and 
Horatio  remind  us  ?  What  is  the  effect  of  this  turn  upon  us 
here? 

5.  (a)  Has  or  has  not  Hamlet  been  in  unusual  excitement  ? 
(b)  Can  you  account  for  the  manner  of  his  answer  (1.  116)  to 
his  friends?  (c)  On  what  grounds  will  they  expect  Hamlet 
to  tell  them  what  the  Ghost  manifestly  did  not  wish  them  to 
hear  ?  (d)  What  would  you  have  done  in  Hamlet's  place  ? 
(e)  How  does  Hamlet  make  the  men  who  have  come  with 
him  know  that  he  will  not  be  questioned  ?  Does  he  seem  to 
do  this  with  too  much  of  princely  haughtiness  ? 

6.  (a)  Can  you  account  for  Hamlet's  wish  (11.  127-131)  to 
dismiss  these  men  from  anything  like  intimacy  hereafter  ? 
Has  he  said  anything  earlier  in  this  scene  that  might  mean  as 
much  ?     (b)  Does  Horatio  appear  (1.  133)  to  feel  aggrieved,  or 


scene  5]  OUTLINE    QUESTIONS  269 

merely  anxious  ?  (c)  What  is  plainly  Hamlet's  mood  and 
motive  in  reply  ?  (d)  Why  does  he  reveal  so  much  (11.  136, 
137)  as  that  there  has  been  a  crime  ?  (e)  Why  is  he  so  anxious 
that  these  men  shall  not  tell  that  they  have  seen  the  Ghost  of 
the  dead  King,  and  that  Hamlet  has  followed  it  to  an  interview  ? 
7:  (a)  Which  of  these  men,  Horatio  or  Marcellus,  is  likely 
to  be  most  tempted  to  talk  of  the  night's  experiences  ?  (6)  On 
which  will  the  voice  (1.  149)  of  the  Ghost  probably  make  the 
stronger  and  more  permanent  impression  ?  (c)  What  is  the 
effect,  on  Hamlet  and  ourselves,  of  the  slow  withdrawal  of 
the  Ghost,  and  the  repeated  evidence  of  its  interest  in  the  oath  ? 
Do  we  feel  its  awful,  imperative  commission  more  deeply  or 
less  as  the  situation  closes  ?  (d)  What  do  you  say  of  the  form 
and  manner  (11.  169-180)  in  which  Hamlet  '  proposes '  the 
oath  ?  (e)  How  far  do  you  find  that  Hamlet's  feeling  (11.  183- 
187)  toward  his  friends  has  altered?  (/)  What  seenu  to  be 
the  nature  of  his  regret  (11.  188-189)  at  the  work  before  him  ? 
(g)  What  action  (1.  190)  accompanies  his  last  words? 

Act  II.     Scene  I 

1.  («)  Does  it  seem  that  Polonius  is  making  (1.  1)  a  stated 
remittance,  or  has  Laertes  sent  home  for  money  ?  (b)  Who 
has  written  the  "  notes  "  that  accompany  the  money  ?  (c)  Why 
apparently  does  Polonius  bethink  himself  (1.  5)  of  his  son's 
behavior  ?  Is  it  from  general  anxiety,  or  expense  ?  (d)  Why 
cannot  Polonius  assume  Reynaldo  capable  (11.  6-15  ff.)  of  tak- 
ing the  proper  steps  to  get  information  ?  (e)  Why  seemingly 
does    Polonius    ask    (1.  15)    whether    Reynaldo    '  marks '    his 


270  OUTLINE    QUESTIONS  [Act  II 

points?  (/;  Do  you  find,  on  looking  through  (11.  1-74)  this 
dialogue,  the  paragraphs  of  Polonius  always  proportionate  to 
Reynaldo's  ? 

2.  (a)  Into  what  docs  Polonius's  fondness  for  phrases  (11.  17- 
30)  lead  him  ?  (ft)  What  phase  of  character  is  revealed  herein  ? 
(c)  What  similarity  is  apparent  (1.  17)  as  to  this  man's  habits 
of  thought  and  of  speech  ?  (d)  Where  does  Polonius  answer 
(1.  36)  his  own  question  ?  (e)  What  further  proof  (11.  49-51) 
as  to  Polonius's  anxiety  for  his  son  ?  (/)  What  is  the  real 
purport  (1.  71)  of  his  amended  counsel?  (g)  What  further 
impressions,  perhaps  in  part  through  the  father,  have  you  here 
derived  concerning  the  son  ?  (h)  What  do  you  think  (11.  69, 
70,  73)  is  specifically  Reynaldo's  mood  ? 

'■'>.  (a)  What  word  has  chief  stress  in  (1.  75)  what  Ophelia 
says  to  her  father?  (ft)  How  far  do  you  think  Hamlet  may 
have  divined  the  reason  (cf.  I.,  iii.,  132-134)  of  Ophelia's  refusal 
to  see  him  further?  (c)  Can  you  account  for  the  visit  (11.  77- 
84)  that  she  has  come  to  report  ?  (d)  Do  you  judge,  from  the 
description  of  Hamlet's  appearance,  that  it  is  a  premeditated 
one  ?  And  why  is  his  look  (1.  82)  "piteous"  ?  (e)  In  what 
sense  does  Polonius  (1.  85)  mean  "for"?  How  does  Ophelia 
apparently  (1.  86)  understand  the  word  ? 

4.  (a)  Does  it  seem  that  Ophelia  (11.  87-100)  has  noticed  and 
is  trying  to  answer  (1.  8'i)  her  father's  question  ?  (ft)  How  are 
we  to  account  for  the  first  actions  (11.  87-91 )  that  she.  describes? 
(c)  Why  did  not  Ophelia  speak,  while  Hamlet  'long  stayed 
so '  ?  Does  she  probably  comprehend  what  she  is  describing? 
<d)  How  must  Hamlet  interpret  her  silence  ?  (e)  What  makes 
him  shake  her  arm,  and  wave  his  head  thrice  up  and  down,  and 


scene  2]  OUTLINE    QUESTIONS  271 

raise  a  sigh  ?  (/)  How  do  you  explain  the  rest  (11.  96-100) 
that  happens  before  he  disappears  ?  (g)  Has  Hamlet  perhaps 
behaved  like  this,  since  the  Ghost's  revelations,  before  ? 

5.  (a)  What  makes  Polonius  propose  (1.  101)  at  once  to 
"seek"  the  King,  taking  Ophelia  along?  (b)  How  far  do 
you  think  the  author  intends  that  we  shall  accept  Polonius's 
explanation  (11.  102-106)  as  the  right  view  concerning  Hamlet's 
mental  state  ?  (c)  Can  you  account  for  the  question  (1.  107) 
that  Polonius  now  asks  ?  Why  do  you  think  the  author  made 
him  ask  it  ?  (d)  Where  can  you  find  examples  of  Polonius's 
expressing  the  same  idea  or  sentiment  twice  ?  (e)  Do  you 
think  the  real  reason  of  his  interdictions  (cf.  I.,  iii.,  132-134) 
is  correctly  told  ?  How  far  may  he  have  feared,  too,  that 
Hamlet  would  not  be  left  unmolested  for  his  insults  to  the 
King  ?  (/)  Why  did  the  author  stop  so  long,  at  the  beginning, 
to  give  the  talk  between  Reynaldo  and  Polonius  ? 

Scene  II 

1.  (a)  Was  it  usual,  or  not,  in  Shakespeare's  times,  for 
young  nobles  to  be  resident  abroad  ?  (b)  What  is  the  "  trans- 
formation "  to  which  (1.  5)  the  King  refers,  and  when  must  it, 
in  his  observation,  have  begun  ?  (c)  Do  you  or  do  you  not 
judsje  that  the  King  believes  Hamlet  disgruntled  at  his  loss  of 
the  throne  ?  (d)  What  exactly  does  the  King  expect  these 
men  to  do  ?  (e)  What  chai-acterization  do  you  seem  to  find 
(11.  19-26)  in  the  Queen's  words  to  the  two  young  men  ? 
(/)  What  characterization  of  both  follows  (11.  26-32)  in  the 
responses  they  now  make  ?     (g)  Why  does  the  Queen  seemingly 


272  OUTLINE    QUESTIONS  [Act  II. 

turn  about  (1.  34)  her  husband's  phrase  ?  And  why  does  she 
ask  them  to  visit  "  instantly  "  her  son  ?  (h)  Does  it  seem  that 
these  men  are  aware  that  there  may  be  tactions,  or  at  least 
parties,  in  Denmark  at  this  time  ? 

2.  («)  Why  is  not  Ophelia,  whom  Polonius  started  with  in 
the  last  scene,  now  (1.  40)  with  her  father  ?  (b)  How  long 
must  it  be,  approximately,  since  the  ambassadors  (cf.  I.,  ii.,  41) 
set  out  for  Norway  ?  What  has  the  author  managed,  by  this 
means,  to  measure  to  us  ?  (c)  What  exactly  does  the  King's 
compliment  (1.  42)  mean  ?  (d)  Do  you  or  do  you  not  judge 
that  Polonius  is  much  accustomed  of  late  to  praise  ?  (e)  Do 
you  think  that  the  King  really  wishes  to  hear  first  (1.  50)  con- 
cerning Hamlet  ?     Why  is  not  Polonius  willing  to  accede  ? 

3.  (a)  If  Polonius  were  not  gone,  would  the  King  probably 
(1.  55)  say  "your,"  or  consent  (1.  57)  to  the  Queen's  "o'er* 
hasty"?  Why?  (6)  In  which  sense  does  the  King  (1.  5s) 
use  "we"?  (c)  How  far  does  he  seem  anxious  that  the 
"sifting"  he  proposes  shall  be  agreeable  to  the  Queen?  Are 
we  or  are  we  not  to  understand  that  their  feelings  toward  each 
other  since  their  marriage  have  been  wholly  such  as  now  ? 
(d)  What  kind  of  king  is  evidently  (11.  61-68)  the  "impotent 
and  bedrid"  Norway?  (e)  What  characterization  (11.68-71) 
of  his  nephew  is  effected?  (/)  How  do  you  like  (11.  80-85) 
the  King's  response  ? 

4.  (a)  Why  should  Polonius  presume  (1.  85)  that  he  will  be 
heard  acceptably  in  a  patronizing  vein  ?  (b)  Is  it  likely  that 
his  standing  with  the  last  administration  was  stronger  or  less 
si  r<  >ng  than  with  the  present  ?  (c)  What  do  you  imagine  (1.  95) 
displeases  the  Queen,  the  judgment  (1.  92)  or  his  manner  of 


scene  2]  OUTLINE    QUESTIONS  273 

delivering  it  ?  ((7)  Why  should  Polonius  (11.  9(3-103)  use  more 
"  art"  than  ever?  Does  he  understand  the  Queen's  request? 
(«)  Why,  after  affirming  (1.  100)  that  he  has  a  daughter,  does 
he  qualify  ? 

5.  (a)  How  was  Ophelia  induced  (1.  108)  to  put  her  father 
in  possession  of  this  letter  ?  Does  it  seem  to  be  a  recent  one  ? 
(b)  What  appears  to  have  prompted  (1.  114)  the  Queen's  inter- 
ruption ?  (c)  What  are  your  impressions  of  this  missive,  as 
coming  from  the  Hamlet  that  we  know  ?  (<Z)  How  much  of 
what  Polonius  (11.  125-128)  next  says  can  we  accept  as  true  ? 
(e)  What  is  significant  (cf.  I.,  iii.,  17-21)  in  the  following  ques- 
tion of  the  King  ? 

6.  (a)  How  much,  again,  of  what  Polonius  (11.  132-145)  says, 
is  true  ?  (6)  What  do  you  say  of  Polonius's  conclusion  (11.  146- 
151)  as  an  example  of  sound  reasoning?  (c)  What  impression 
has  this  made  (1.  151)  upon  the  King?  (tZ)  What  would  seem 
to  be  the  Queen's  feelings  regarding  such  a  match  ?  How 
would  it  probably  have  pleased  the  elder  Hamlet  ?  (e)  How 
should  the  King  (1.  100)  "know"  that  Hamlet  walks  so  long 
in  the  lobby  ?  Is  it  likely  or  not  that  he  had  this  habit  before 
going  to  Wittenberg  ?     If  not,  why  should  he  do  so  now  ? 

7.  (a)  What  makes  Polonius  use  such  a  word  (1.  162)  as 
"loose"?  (b)  What  hint  of  the  King's  character  comes 
(1.  167)  now  to  sight?  (c)  What  manifestly  (1.  168)  is  the 
Queen's  feeling,  as  she  sees  Hamlet  approach  ?  How  far  has 
she  ever  understood  him?  (cZ)  What  prompts  Polonius  to  force 
the  King  and  Queen  to  retreat  ?  Were  they  standing  while 
they  gave  audience  to  Polonius  ?  (e)  What  does  Polonius's 
second  inquiry  (1.  173)  pretty  certainly  make  clear  to  Hamlet  ? 


274  OUTLINE    QUESTIONS  [Act  II 

(/)  What  does  Hamlet  want  Polonius  to  know  (11.  184-186) 
that  he  understands  ?     How  did  Hamlet  find  out  ? 

8.  (a)  Is  it  likely  that  Hamlet  has  talked  to  any  one  enig- 
matically before  ?  (6)  Can  you  explain  why  Polonius  does  not 
see  through  Hamlet's  assumed  behavior,  or  how  he  can  deliver 
himself  (11.  190-191)  of  such  imbecility?  (c)  What  does 
Hamlet  aim  to  do  (11.  193-205),  when  Polonius  insists  on 
continuing  the  interview  ?  (d)  Does  Hamlet  apparently  (11. 
21-5-210)  like  formalities?  (e)  How  far  does  he  show  insanity 
(1.  221)  after  he  is  relieved  of  Polonius  ?  (/)  Can  you  account 
(1.  222)  for  Polonius's  unprolix  fashion  of  speech  to  Rosen- 
crantz  and  Gnildenstern  ? 

9.  (a)  What  do  you  say  of  Hamlet's  manner  of  greeting 
(11.  227-229)  to  his  friends?  (b)  What  are  the  stressed  and 
important  words  (11.  230,  233)  in  their  replies  to  Hamlet  ? 
With  what  theory  of  Hamlet's  disaffection  have  they  come  to 
him  ?  (c)  Should  Hamlet,  apparently,  see  through  their  at- 
tempts to  prove  it  to  themselves  ?  (<2)  Why  does  not  the  party 
repair  to  the  court  (1.  267)  as  Hamlet  proposes  ?  (e)  How  can 
Hamlet  have  divined  (11.  279-280)  their  secret  ? 

10.  (a)  Which  of  the  parties,  in  this  situation,  would  natu- 
rally be  conscious  of  having  the  advantage,  the  two  friends, 
backed  by  the  King,  or  Hamlet?  (6)  Can  you  explain  why 
Guildenstern  (1.  298)  admits  that  they  have  been  sent  for, 
though  it  is  not  his  secret  to  tell  ?  (c)  Why  does  Hamlet  im- 
mediately (1.  299)  explain  for  his  friend  what  he  has  (1.  289) 
just  said  they  must  li  teach"  him?  (tZ)  What  do  you  say  of 
t  he  following  speech  that  he  pronounces  ?  How  far  is  it  sincere 
and  serious?  (e)  Has  the  author  apparently  any  point  (11.  316, 
320)  in  making  Kosencrantz  laugh  ? 


scene  2]  OUTLINE     QUESTIONS  L'7.r) 

11.  (a)  How  does  it  chance  that  the  players  (11.  324,  325) 
are  coming  to  Hamlet,  and  not  the  King,  to  offer  service  ? 
(fc)  What  city  (1.  335)  is  evidently  referred  to  ?  (c)  Does 
Hamlet  seem  to  have  any  purpose  (11.  370-373)  in  his  next 
allusion  to  the  King  ?  (d)  Why  does  Hamlet  now  (11.  377-383) 
give  these  men  another  welcome  ?  (e)  What  does  Hamlet 
think  that  the  King  and  Queen  have  told  them  (383,  384,  386) 
about  himself  ?     (/)  Have  they  (cf.  11  4—3(5)  done  so  ? 

12.  (a)  What  does  Hamlet  mean  to  imply  (11.  38'.),  390)  in 
his  next  reference  to  his  friends  ?  (6)  Why  does  he  imply 
(11.  396,  3i>7)  to  Polonius  that  their  talk  has  not  been  about 
himself  ?  (c)  Why,  too,  does  he  mention  Roscius  (1.  400) 
as  "an  actor  in  Rome"  ?  (d)  What  stirs  Polonius  to  (11.  405- 
411)  such  a  voluble  effort  ?  (e)  What  does  Hamlet  evi- 
dently intend  now  (11.  412,  413)  by  his  mention  of  Jephthah  ? 
(/)  What  is  shown,  by  the  emphasized  that  (1.422),  to  be 
Hamlet's  meaning  ? 

13.  (a)  What  do  you  say  of  Hamlet's  manner  (11,  430-438) 
toward  the  players?  (b)  What  does  Hamlet's  eagerness  (11. 
438-411)  to  have  something  declaimed  at  once  argue  as  to  his 
tastes  and  spirit  ?  (c)  What  qualities  would  you  expect  to  find 
(11.  455,  456)  in  a  passage  that  Hamlet  chiefly  loves?  (d)  What 
qualities  do  the  lines  recited  by  him  show  ?  (e)  Why  does  the 
actor  (11.  529,  530)  show  so  much  emotion  ?  What  is  suggested 
here  as  to  the  acting  of  Shakespeare's  days  ?  . 

14.  (a)  What  thought  (11.  547,  548)  has  manifestly  come 
now  to  Hamlet?  (6)  Do  you  think  that  Hamlet  bespeaks 
consideration  (11.  555,  556)  for  Polonius  sincerely  ?  (c)  Are 
Rosencrantz    and    Guildenstern,   apparently,    in   much    haste 


276  OUTLINE    QUESTIONS  [Act  III 

(II.  559,  560)  to  withdraw  from   Hamlet's  company  ?     Why  ? 

(d)  AVhy  has  the  scene,  since  1.  170,  been  cast  in  prose,  and 
why  now  changes  to  verse  ?  (e)  Does  Hamlet's  mood  (1.  561), 
on  getting  himself  free  again,  seem  or  not  seem  to  argue  that 
he  has  forgotten  (I.,  v.,  91,  112)  his  father's  commission,  or  his 
oath  ? 

15.  ■  [a)  What  makes  Hamlet  feel  (11.  562-570)  that  he  is  a 
rogue  and  low-boru  slave,  far  beneath  the  actor  ?  How  much 
more  nobly  would  the  Player  King,  up  to  now,  have  probably 
behaved  ?  (6)  Hamlet  thinks  himself  (11.  590,  591)  a  coward  ; 
but  of  what  or  whom  has  he  showed  fear  ?  (c)  What  causes 
his  self-reproach,  —  his  general  ideal  of  manly  action,  or  the 
specific  conviction  of  present  duty  to  his  father?  (d)  Has 
such  a  feeling   come   for   the   first   time,  apparently,  to-day  ? 

(e)  From  "offal  "  (1.  594)  what  might  be  inferred  as  to  Ham- 
let's idea,  or  hope,  of  vengeance  ?  Would  the  King's  body,  if 
he  were  assassinated,  lie  unburied  ? 

16.  («)  Why  does  Hamlet  chafe  now  (11.  596-603)  over  his 
chafing  ?  (b)  Of  what  changers  (1.  603)  "About,  my  brain"  the 
sign?  (c)  What  is  to  be  said  (11.  609-615)  of  his  strategj  '.' 
How  far  is  it  wise  and  sound  ?  (d)  What  are  the  possibilities 
of  evidence  in  the  case  ?  (e)  What  rights  may  Hamlet,  as  his 
father's  avenger,  insist  upon  ?  (/)  Will  or  will  not  the  attempt 
(1.  620)  to  catch  the  King's  conscience,  if  the  purpose  is  detected, 
be  dangerous  to  Hamlet  ? 

Act  III.     Scene  I 

1.  (a)  What  have  Rosencrantz  and  Guildenstern  been  report- 
ing to  the  King  ?     (6)  What  does  the  King  mean   (1.  2)  by 


..gene  1]  OUTLINE    QUESTIONS  277 

implying  that  Hamlet  "puts  on"  turbulent  and  dangerous 
lunacy  ?  (c)  Where  did  Hamlet  confess  (1.  5)  to  the  feeling  of 
distraction  ?  (d)  Why  should  Guildenstern  (11.  8,  12)  insist 
on  making  a  more  unfavorable  report  than  his  companion  ? 
(e)  Why  is  it  the  Queen,  and  not  the  King,  who  asks  (11.  10,  14, 
15)  the  special  questions  ?  (/)  What  kind  of  "joy  "  did  Hamlet 
give  evidence  of  (11.  326-333)  in  the  last  scene?  (g)  How  far 
is  the  King  getting  exact  and  fair  information  from  these  men  ? 
(h)  Is  it  their  motive  to  give  such  ?  Why  ?  (i)  What  is  the 
time  (1.  21)  of  this  scene  with  reference  (cf.  11.  545,  546,  550) 
to  the  close  of  the  last  act  ? 

2.  (a)  How  do  you  account  (11.  21-23)  for  what  Polonius 
reports  to  the  King  and  Queen  ?  Where  did  Hamlet  '  beseech' 
to  such  effect?  (b)  Why  is  the  King  pleased  (1.  24)  to  hear 
him  "so  inclined"?  (c)  Do  Rosencrantz  and  Guildenstern 
appear  to  know,  this  time,  that  they  are  expected  to  withdraw? 
(d)  What  do  you  say  of  the  kingliness  of  the  King  in  this  and 
the  following  situation  ?  (e)  Why  does  the  King  think  himself 
(1.  32)  a  'lawful  espial,'  and  why  does  he  think  it  necessary  to 
say  so  ?  (/)  How  would  the  earlier  Hamlet  have  probably 
behaved  ? 

3.  (a)  What  do  you  say  (11.  37-42)  of  the  Queen's  words  to 
Ophelia  ?  What  feeling,  what  characterization  do  you  find  in 
them  ?  (b)  What  do  you  think  of  Polonius's  manner(ll.  43-46) 
with  Ophelia  here?  (c)  How  far  does  Polonius's  liction  (cf. 
11.  46-49)  of  late  seem  to  square  with  his  mannerisms  in  the  First 
Act  ?  (d)  What  does  the  King's  aside  (11.  49-54)  now  reveal  ? 
Why  is  the  King  made,  in  advance  of  Hamlet's  experiment,  to 
say  this  here  ? 


278  OUTLINE    QUESTIONS  [Act  111. 

4.  (a)  How  is  Hamlet  presented  here  ?  Does  he,  on  enter- 
ing, sit?  Where  has  the  author  arranged  and  prepared  for  his 
appearance  in  this  way  ?  (b)  Do  the  King  and  Queen  and 
Ophelia  overhear  his  soliloquizing?  (c)  What  do  we  learn, 
from  the  first  five  lines,  as  to  the  trend  of  Hamlet's  thoughts  of 
hit''?  (d)  When  did  he  first  betray  the  presence  of  such  an 
idea?  And  why  is  he  so  much  in  doubt  now,  while  his  com- 
mission is  yet  unachieved,  whether  it  be  worth  while  to  live? 
(e)  Does  he  or  does  he  not  apparently  wish  to  shirk  the  ven- 
geance that  his  father's  spirit  is  waiting  for,  or  will  he  first  kill 
the  King? 

5.  (a)  Were  Hamlet  to  kill  the  King,  by  an  act  of  personal 
vengeance,  without  waiting  for  a  proper  occasion,  what  expla- 
nation would  he  or  could  he  make  to  the  country?  (6)  How 
would  such  an  explanation  be  received  and  understood  ?  (c)  Who 
would  lie  expected  to  succeed  to  the  throne?  (77)  How  would 
such  an  outcome  please  Hamlet?  How  far  could  he,  as  a  man 
of  the  finest  sense  of  honor,  be  expected  to  accede,  or  what 
means  might  he  be  expected  to  propose  to  himself,  to  forestall 
such  issue  ? 

6.  {a)  What  seems  to  be  the  nature  of  Hamlet's  concern 
(1.  66)  about  the  dreams  that  may  come  in  the  sleep  of  death  ? 
Is  he  afraid  of  remorse  ?  (ft)  How  far  does  "the  dread  (1.  78) 
of  something  after  death  "  appear  to  be  theological  ?  (c)  How 
does  it  chance  that  Hamlet  does  not  think  (11.  79,  80)  of  his 
father's  ghost?  (d)  What  sort  of  enterprises  (1.  86)  "of 
great  pith  and  moment"  does  Hamlet  seem  to  have  in  mind? 
(e)  What  new  impressions  of  Hamlet  as  a  thinker  and  a  man 
have  the  meditations  now  ending  brought '.'     (/)   How  is  it  that 


scene  1]  OUTLINE    QUESTIONS  279 

Ophelia,  now  interrupting  the  soliloquy,  has  been  kept  in  delay 
till  it  should  be  finished  ? 

7.  (a)  What  is  evidently  Hamlet's  feeling  (11.  89,  90)  at  first 
toward  Ophelia?  (b)  How  far  do  you  think  her  manner  (11.  90, 
«J1)  of  addressing  Hamlet  truly  characteristic  ?  (c)  What  change 
is  evident  (1.  92)  in  Hamlet's  feeling,  as  he  replies?  (d)  What 
is  Ophelia's  motive  in  giving  back  (11.  93-95)  the  remembrances? 
How  far  was  her  father  probably  aware  that  she  had  reasons  of 
her  own  for  wishing  to  meet  Hamlet?  (<?)  With  what  looks  and 
manner  (11.  95,  96)  does  Hamlet  answer  ?  And  what  prompts 
him  to  deny  the  giving?  (/)  Why  does  not  Ophelia  (1.  97) 
say  'you'  instead  of  "I"  ?  (g)  What  do  you  say  of  the  spirit 
and  character  of  a  woman  who,  having  as  she  thinks  been 
wronged,  arraigns  her  lover  in  such  language  as  we  find  here? 

8.  (a)  What  probably  did  Ophelia  expect  from  this  inter- 
view? (6)  Does  it  seem  that  Hamlet  finds  it  easy  to  speak 
to  Ophelia  in  (11.  103,  105,  107,  108)  the  manner  following? 
(c)  Hoes  it  seem  to  be  his  purpose  (11.  111-115)  next  to  find 
fault  with  her  or  to  mystify  her  ?  (d)  Why  does  he  turn  (11. 117— 
119)  to  maligning  himself  and  his  sex,  and  then  deny  what  he 
has  just  affirmed?  (e)  How  far  do  you  think  his  exhortings 
(11.  121,  130)  to  enter  a  nunnery  sincere  ?  (/)  Why  does  he 
so  suddenly  (1.  131)  ask  for  her  father?  (g)  How  does 
Ophelia  probably  behave  under  the  searching  looks  that  accom- 
pany the  question  ? 

9.  (a)  Why  does  Hamlet  speak  so  harshly,  after  Ophelia 
answers  (11.  133,  134),  of  her  father?  (6)  Do  you  or  do  you 
not  think  that  Hamlet  expected  or  intended  the  effect  (1.  130) 
that  his  language  brings  to  Ophelia's  mind?      (c)   Why  does 


280  OUTLINE    QUESTIONS  [Act  III. 

Hamlet  stay  after  saying  farewell?  (d)  What  does  he  mean 
(11.  137-143)  by  his  next  paragraph  to  her?  (e)  Why,  after  a 
second  farewell,  does  he  linger  yet?  (/)  How  far,  if  he  did 
not  know  that  they  were  spied  upon,  would  he  speak  differently 
and  act  ditferently  ?  (g)  How  far  does  it  seem  that  Hamlet  is 
trying  to  produce  the  judgment  (1.  144)  that  Ophelia  is  framing 
as  to  the  cause  of  his  defection  ? 

10.  («)  What  pertinency  do  you  find  in  Hamlet's  next  pai-a- 
graph  (11.  145-153)  of  scolding?  (b)  For  whose  hearing  does 
Hamlet  affirm  directly  (1.  150)  that  he  is  mad?  (c)  How  does 
he  know  that  there  are  other  listeners  ?  (d)  Is  it  politic  or 
wise  (11.  151,  152)  to  make  the  covert  threat?  Why  does  not 
Hamlet  refrain  from  it?  (e)  Why  is  Ophelia  made  to  give 
expression  to  her  sorrow  (11.  154-165)  in  our  hearing?  (/)  What 
was  promised  as  the  chief  interest  of  this  interview  at  the 
beginning?  Why  was  this  subordinated?  (g)  Why  the  change 
(11.  153,  154)  to  verse? 

11.  («)  Does  the  King  appear  to  be  talking,  on  entry  (1.  106), 
to  any   proposition  made  since    Hamlet's   exit  by  Polonius? 

(b)  What   has   made   the   King   so   sure  of   his  impressions? 

(c)  What  does  he  mean  (1.  170)  by  "the  hatch  and  the  dis- 
close "  ?  ((?)  What  has  caused  him  to  resolve  (1.  172)  so  imme- 
diately on  taking  active  measures  against  Hamlet?  (e)  Why 
does  he  not  arrest  the  prince,  and  proceed  against  him  in  the 
Tudor  or  Elizabethan  way?  (/)  What  has  made  the  King 
give  up  (11.  167,  168)  so  wholly  the  notion,  willingly  entertained 
(cf.  i.,  4,  above)  before,  of  Hamlet's  being  mad  ?  Does  Hamlet 
seem  to  have  intended,  in  the  things  said  for  the  King's  hearing, 
to  help  this  result  ? 


scene  2]  OUTLINE    QUESTIONS  L'Sl 

12.    (a)  Why  should  Polonius  be  allowed  (11.  180-191)  to  end 

the  scene?  (6)  What  do  you  say  (11.  180-182)  of  his  retreat 
(cf.  II.,  ii.,  155,  150)  from  his  former  position?  (c)  What  rec- 
ognition is  apparent  (11.  182-184)  of  the  hard  and  almost  indeli- 
cate role  that  Ophelia  has  been  forced  to  play  ?  (d)  To  what 
does  Polonius  subordinate  the  King's  idea?  And  what  is  the 
governing  motive  in  the  new  advice?  (e)  How  far  has  Polo- 
nius apparently  (11.  189,  190)  caught  the  note  of  defiance  that 
affrights  the  King  ?  (/)  Does  the  King  mean  to  be  inconsis- 
tent, in  (1.  192)  his  last  utterance,  with  what  (11.  107,  108)  he 
has  just  said  above? 

Scene  II 

1.  («)  What  is  the  time  of  this  scene  as  related  to  the  pre- 
ceding ?  (6)  How  does  it  chance  that  the  players  and  Hamlet 
are  now  together?  (c)  What  "speech"  is  Hamlet  (cf.  1.  4) 
concerned  about  ?  (d)  How  should  Hamlet  be  giving  instruc- 
tion to  this  First  Player,  who  is  perhaps  a  university  man  and 
a  playwright  as  well  as  a  trained  actor  ?  (e)  What  do  you  say 
of  the  wisdom  and  soundness  of  the  advice  (11.  1-15,  17-36)  at 
large  that  Hamlet  gives  ?  (/)  How  will  this  episode  affect 
our  expectations  of  the  play  that  it  delays  ? 

2.  (a)  Why  are  Polonius  and  Rosencrantz  and  Guildenstern 
brought  in,  and  at  once  sent  out,  ostensibly  to  hurry  the  play  ? 
(&)  Do  you  or  do  you  not  imagine  that  Horatio  has  been  sent 
for?  (c)  What  seems  to  be  the  reason  (11.  55,  56)  of  Hamlet's 
beginning  his  talk  with  such  a  sentiment  ?  What,  mood  is 
on  the  man?  (d)  What  hint  as  to  Horatio's  rank  and  origin 
(1.  59)  seems  here  ?     (e)  Why  should  Hamlet  speak  with  such 


282  OUTLINE    QUESTIONS  [Aci  III 

brutal  plainness  (1.  60)  of  his  friend's  poverty  ?  (/)  How  do 
Hamlet's  words,  finally,  concerning  what  (11.  63-76)  Horatio 
has  been  to  him  impress  you?  Is  he  speaking  effusively,  like 
an  Italian,  or  with  the  repression  of  a  Scandinavian,  a  Gothic 
mind  ?  (g)  What  brings  him  such  an  access  of  feeling  before 
the  play  ?     Does  he  expect  danger  ? 

3.  (a)  What  does  "Something  too  much  of  this"  (1.  75) 
mark  and  measure  to  us  ?  (ft)  When  did  Hamlet  give  up  to 
Horatio  (11.  77,  78)  his  secret?  And  why  (cf.  I.,  v.,  139,  140, 
165)  did  he  give  it  up  to  him  ?  (c)  Is  there  or  not  dramatic 
gain   in   giving   Hamlet   a   partner   for  the  coming  moment? 

(d)  How  far  does  Horatio  seem  to  share  Hamlet's  excitement  ? 

(e)  What  fully  does  Hamlet  mean  (1.  92)  in  "  I  must  be  idle  "  ? 

4.  (a)  Does  there  seem  any  especial  reason  for  Hamlet's 
answer  (11.  94-96)  to  the  King's  not  ungracious  question  ? 
Does  not  the  King  subordinate  him  to  us  by  his  rejoinder? 
(6)  What  excuse  is  there,  or  is  there  any  excuse,  for  Hamlet's 
insolence  (11.  99-107)  to  Polonius  ?  (c)  Why  docs  Hamlet  de- 
cline to  sit  by  his  mother?  (d)  Do  or  do  not  the  whole  com- 
pany hear  Hamlet's  following  comments?  (e)  Does  it  seem 
that  he  has  been  behaving  like  this  in  the  face  of  the  court  of 
late  ?  (/)  What  must  the  King  think  of  the  procedures  of  the 
poisoner  in  the  dumb  show?  How  can  he  explain  Hamlet's 
possession  of  his  secret  ? 

5.  (a)  Why  must  Hamlet  (11.  131,  132,  135,  136)  keep  in- 
timating the  awful  sureness  of  the  coming  revelation  ?  (6)  Do 
you  think  there  is  point  in  the  time  (11.  147,  140)  that  the 
Player  King  makes  the  marriage  to  have  lasted  ?  (c)  Can  you 
explain  (1.   173)   Hamlet's  aside  ?     (d)  What  is  to  be  said  in 


scene  2]  OUTLINE    QUESTIONS  283' 

general  of  the  diction  and  the  sentiment  of  these  lines  ?  Do 
they  seem  Shakespearian,  or  Shakespeare's  ?  (e)  What  should 
be  said  (11.  216,  221)  of  Hamlet's  open  language  about  and  to 
his  mother?  (/)  Why  should  the  King,  knowing  already 
from  the  dumb  show,  make  inquiry  (11.  224-225)  about  the 
'•argument"?  (r/)  What  does  his  use  (1.  228)  of  "you" 
indicate  to  Hamlet  ? 

6.  (a)  How  is  it  that  Hamlet  makes  Lucianus  (1.  236) 
nephew  "to  the  King"  and  not  (1.  231)  the  Duke?  (6) 
Why  does  Hamlet  presume  (11.  241-243)  to  interfere  with  the 
course  of  the  play  ?  Did  or  did  not  such  things  happen 
upon  the  Elizabethan  stage  ?  (c)  Why  (1.  254)  does  the  King 
"  rise  "  ?  And  why  does  he  rise  only  after  (11.  250-253)  Ham- 
let's comments?  (d)  How  did  (1.  93)  the  court  come  in? 
(e)  How  long  does  it  take  the  King  and  his  courtiers  (11. 
254-250)  now  to  withdraw  ?  (/)  What  do  you  suppose  the 
courtiers  thought  ? 

7.  (a)  Do  you  understand  that  Hamlet  sings  or  merely 
repeats  (11.  200-203)  the  stanza  that  follows  here  ?  (6)  What 
seems  to  be  now  Hamlet's  mood,  and  the  degree  of  it  ?  (c)  Why 
does  he  withhold  (1.  273)  the  rhyme  word  he  is  tempted  to  use, 
and  what  propriety  in  the  term  substituted  for  it  ?  (d)  How 
far  is  Hamlet  fair  in  his  contempt,  because  of  his  easy  victory, 
for  the  King's  powers  of  mind  ?  (e)  Why  does  Hamlet  call 
(1.  280)  for  music  ?     And  who  apparently  executes  the  order  ? 

8.  (a)  What  difference  in  Guildenstern's  manner  from 
hitherto  ?  (6)  Why  should  he  speak  of  the  King's  being 
(1.  200)  "distempered"?  Has  he  been  commissioned  to  do 
so?     (<•)  Does  he  seem  to  understand  the  point  (11.   204-207) 


284  OUTLINE    QUESTIONS  [Act  III 

that  Hamlet  tries  to  make  significant  ?  Is  it  Hamlet's  matter 
or  manner  that  prompts  (11.  298,  299)  the  protest  following? 
(d)  In  what  sense  does  Hamlet  insist  upon  taking  (1.  302)  the 
word  "sent"  ?  (e)  What  gives  Guildenstern  (11.  304-30S)  his 
boldness  ?  (/)  What  prompts  Hamlet's  flanking  (11.  309,  311) 
from  the  attack  ? 

9.  (a)  Does  there  seem  to  be  reason  why  (uiildenstern  gives 
way  now  (11.  316,  317)  to  Rosencrantz  ?  (b)  How  can  Rosen- 
crantz  expect  to  elicit  anything  (11.  325,  327-3"29)  from 
Hamlet  under  present  circumstances?  (c)  How  is  Hamlet's 
answer  (1.  330)  to  be  explained?  (d)  What  do  you  say 
of  Hamlet's  rather  deliberate  management  (11.  340-362)  of  his 
friends  ?  (e)  Does  it  seem  that  the  Queen  (11.  364,  365)  has 
sent  also  by  Polonius  for  Hamlet  ?  (/)  What  is  probably  her 
motive  in  sending  for  him?  (g)  How  is  it  that  Hamlet  seems 
to  control  and  compel  Polonius,  differently  from  his  two  friends 
who  are  by,  even  more  than  ever  ? 

1U.  (a)  What  seems  to  inspire  the  thoughts  that  now  (11.  :'.7U- 
381)  first  come  to  Hamlet's  mind?  (b)  Why  does  no  prompt- 
ing to  proceed  at  once  against  the  King  seem  to  be  felt  ? 
(c)  How  far  evidently  does  Hamlet  think  his  mother  in  league 
with  the  King?  (d)  Why  should  he  need  to  voice  such  feel- 
ings (11.  384,  385)  as  we  now  hear  ?  (e)  Does  he  seem  to  re- 
member the  mandates  of  the  Ghost  as  to  his  treatment  of  his 
mother  ? 

Scene  III 

1.  (a)  How  long  is  it  since  Kosencrantz  and  Guildenstern 
cvithdrew  from  Hamlet,  at  his  order  (1.  378),  in  the  last  scene  ? 


scene  3]  OUTLINE    QUESTIONS  285 

(6)  Why  is  the  King  in  such  haste  (11.  3,  4)  to  send  Hamlet 
away  ?  (c)  Why  does  he  put  Rosencrantz  and  Guildenstern 
in  commissiun  for  this  purpose  ?  (d)  What  hazard  (1.  6)  can 
the  King  pretend  he  is  enduring  from  Hamlet's  presence  at  the 
court  ?  0)  How,  in  Guildenstern's  idea,  are  there  (1.  9)  "  many 
many  bodies  "  unsafe  as  well  as  the  King  ?  (/)  What  must  be 
Itosencrantz's  and  Guildenstern's  notion  about  the  play,  as 
causing  the  King's  anxiety  ?  (g)  What  do  you  say  of  Rosen- 
crantz's  deliverance  (11.  11-23)  to  the  King  ?  (ft)  Does  it  seem 
or  not  seem  that  the  King  may  wish  to  be  rid  of  these  witnesses 
of  his  disgrace  ? 

2.  («)  Why  is  Polonius  so  willing  (1.  28)  to  play  the  spy 
upon  the  Queen  and  Hamlet  ?  (6)  What  makes  the  King 
(1.  30)  apparently  desirous  that  "  more  audience  than  a  mother  " 
should  overhear?  (c)  Why  should  the  experiences  of  the  even- 
ing have  such  an  effect  (1.  36 ff.)  upon  the  mind  of  the  King? 
(d)  Why  should  the  author  wish  us  to  know  that  the  King's 
conscience  has  been  so  touched  ?  What  is  the  effect  on  us  of 
seeing  him  attempt  to  pray  ?  (e)  Does  Hamlet  seem  to  be 
ready  (11.  73,  74)  to  strike  the  blow  of  vengeance  ?  (/)  Do  we 
wish  him  to  take  the  King's  life  now  ?  (g)  What  do  we  say 
of  Hamlet's  reasons  about  the  matter?  How  far  are  they 
the  final,  veritable  reasons?  (ft)  What  evidence  here  con- 
cerning Hamlet's  hope  of  punishing  the  King  by  other  means 
than  assassination  ?  (t)  Why  should  the  author  have  wished 
to  give  us  inner  proof  again  ^cf.  III.,  i.,  49-54)  of  the  King'.s 
guilt? 


286  OUTLINE    QUESTIONS  [Act  III. 


Scene  IV 

1.  (a)  Why  does  Polonius  seem  so  aroused  and  hurried  ? 
Has  there  been  earlier  conversation,  or  are  these  the  first  words 
said  since  his  entry  here  ?  (i>)  What  does  Polonius  wish  or 
expect  from  the  advice  (11.  1-4)  he  is  urging  upon  the  Queen  '.' 

(c)  How  far  probably  is  there  truth  in  (11.  3,  4)  his  statement 
that  Hamlet  has  been  "screened"  ?  (d)  What  does  the  Queen 
propose  to  say  or  do  in  the  coming  interview  ?  (e)  What  does 
Hamlet  intend  for  his  part  to  do  or  say  ?  (/)  With  which 
motive  and  purpose  are  you  in  sympathy  ? 

2.  (a)  Does  Polonius  seem  to  be  present  at  the  Queen's 
request  ?  Did  she  apparently  send  him,  as  well  as  Roseacrantz 
and  (iuildenstern  (ii.,  364),  to  summon  Hamlet  or  not  ?  (b)  Why 
docs  he  speak  of  his  spying  behind  the  arras  as  'silencing  him- 
self even  here''?  (c)  Does  it  signify  anything  that  Hamlet 
calls  "Mother"  (1.  (5)  three  times?     Is  there  pause  between? 

(d)  Is  it  or  is  it  not  well  that  Hamlet  does  not  seek  this  inter- 
view, but  is  summoned?  (e)  What  do  you  say  (1.8)  of  his 
salutation?  (/)  Why  does  not  the  mother,  who  has  sent  for 
him,  speak  first  ?  (gr)  Does  it  seem  that  Hamlet  has  been  often 
summoned,  of  late,  to  his  mother's  closet? 

3.  (a)  What  do  you  say  of  the  reserve  (1.  9)  of  the  Queen's 
answer?  (b)  What  word  in  Hamlet's  rejoinder  (1.  10)  ha; 
stress?  (<•)  What  does  the  Queen  think  toat  her  next  utter- 
ance (1.  11)  will  do?  (d)  And  what  does  Hamlet  intend  (1.  12) 
by  his  retort?  (e)  Why  does  the  Queen  say  (1.  14)  "forgot"? 
(/)  What  words  in   Hamlet's  answer  (I!.  14-10)  have  stress? 


scene  4]  OUTLINE    QUESTIONS  287 

(f/)  How  far  do  you  approve,  in  manner  and  matter,  what 
Hamlet  has  just  said? 

4.  (a)  What  does  the  Queen  now  assay  (1.  17)  to  do  ? 
(b)  What,  to  forestall  this,  is  done  by  Hamlet  ?  (c)  Do  you 
think  that  the   Queen   (11.   21,   22)   is   really   afraid,   or   not? 

(d)  What  should  Polouius  (1.  22)  have  done  ?  (e)  Why  does 
Hamlet,  upon  the  instant,  make  the  pass  through  the  arras  ? 
(/)  What  stress  (1.  25)  in  "Nay,  I  know  not"  ?  (g)  What 
makes  Hamlet  ask  "  Is  it  the  King"  ?  (h)  How  far  does  Ham- 
let's action  here  argue  indecision  and  weakness  of  character  ? 

•").  («)  How  far,  apparently,  has  Hamlet  suspected  his 
mother  aware  of  his  uncle's  crimes  ?  (6)  What  does  her 
echoing  (1.  30)  of  his  words  make  clear?  (c)  Why  does 
Hamlet  call  Polonius  (1.  31)  "rash"?  (d)  Why  is  Hamlet 
so  little  moved  ?  (e)  What  is  the  effect,  on  us,  of  the  spectacle 
of  Polonius  slain  ?  Does  or  does  not  our  charity  reach  far- 
ther than  to  the  man  whose  weaknesses  have  been  punished? 
(/)  Does  the  Queen  wring  her  hands  (1.  34)  because  only  of 
grief  for  Polonius's  death  ? 

6.  (a)  Why  should  the  Queen,  no  longer  recalcitrant,  pre- 
tend (11.  39,  40)  that  she  does  not  understand  ?  (&)  What  do 
you  say  of  Hamlet's  answer  ?  How  far  does  he  try  to  make 
her  understand  ?  (c)  When  she  still  asks  "  What  act,"  what, 
instead  of  the  precise  indictment,  does  she  bring  down  upon 
herself  ?  (d)  What  are  your  feelings  towards  Hamlet  because 
of   his  proceeding,  and  to   such   limits,   against   his   mother  ? 

(e)  What  effect  is  produced  by  the  consciousness  of  wrong 
(11.  88-01),  thus  voiced  now  by  the  Queen  ?  (/)  Do  you  wish 
Hamlet  (11.  91-04)  to  continue  ? 


288  OUTLINE    QUESTIONS  [Act  III 

7.  («)  Why  does  the  author  make  Hamlet  go  on,  scurrilouslj 
even,  in  abuse  of  his  uncle  ?  Is  it  to  make  us  dislike  Hamlet  ? 
(6)  Does  it  or  does  it  not  alter  our  feelings  toward  the  Queen  ? 

(c)  What,  by  the  bidding  (I.,  v.,  84-88)  of  the  Ghost  was  to 
be  Hamlet's  treatment  of  his  mother?  How  far  did  that  com- 
mand argue  a  desire  to  see  her  suffer,  bring  her  to  punishment  ? 

(d)  What  must  be  the  present  feeling  of  the  Ghost  toward 
Hamlet's  mother  ?  (<?)  How  does  this  feeling,  and  the  present 
visitation  that  shows  it,  affect  our  sense  of  the  wrong  done  by 
the  Queen  to  her  dead  husband  ?  (/)  Why  does  not  the  Ghost. 
make  Hamlet  know  more  unequivocally  the  motive  that  has 
made  it  put  a  stop  to  the  sufferings  of  the  Queen  ? 

8.  (a)  A  moment  ago,  the  Queen  was  painfully  subordinated 
to  Hamlet;  which  is  subordinated  to  the  other  now?  (ft)  What, 
in  this,  is  plainly  the  author's  purpose?  (c)  Do  you  think  or 
not  think  that  this  is  a  subjective  ghost  ?  (d)  Why  should  not 
the  Queen  be  made  to  know  of  his  presence,  as  Marcellus  and 
Horatio  were,  by  seeing  ?  (e)  Why  is  the  Ghost  now  (1.  135) 
in  his  usual  palace  dress  ?  (/)  Can  you  explain  Hamlet's 
greater  fear,  at  this  visitation,  of  the  Ghost  ?  (g)  Can  you 
explain  the  lingering,  and  the  slow  withdrawal  (1.  134)  of  the 
Ghost  ? 

9.  (a)  How  is  it  that  Hamlet  cannot  (.11.  139-152)  recover, 
or  is  not  permitted  by  the  authonto  recover,  his  moral,  inqui- 
sitional authority  over  his  mother?  (ft)  What  must  be  the 
Queen's  future?  Will  it  do  to  have  her  propose,  or  to  have 
Hamlet  consent,  that  she  continue  to  live,  as  she  has  lived, 
with  Hamlet's  uncle  ?-  Why?  (c)  How  does  it  help  to  have 
Hamlet  give  (11. 159-107)  such  advice  as  we  now  hear  ?    (d)  Does 


scene  4]  OUTLINE    QUESTIONS  289 

the  author  expect  us  to  believe  that  Hamlet  really  thinks  as  he 
is  here  made  to  say  ?  (e)  How  far  must  this  affect  our  enthu- 
siasm for  our  hero  ?  (/)  What  does  Hamlet  mean  (1.  175)  in 
saying  that  he  must  be  their  "scourge  and  minister"  ? 

10.  (a)  How  far  does  the  Queen  seem  to  have  divined  Ham- 
let's feelings  and  motives  in  relation  to  the  King  ?  (&)  AVhy 
does  she  ask  (1.  180)  what  she  must  do  ?  (c)  How  does  the 
author   make   us   know  that   she  will    be   on    Hamlet's  side  ? 

(d)  How  has  Hamlet  found  out  (1.  200)  the  King's  purpose? 

(e)  How  far  has  the  Queen  (1.  201)  guessed  or  divined  the  ani- 
mus of  this  plan?  (/)  Will  the  Queen  infer  that  Hamlet  is 
preparing  (11.  204-210)  to  defeat  the  King  and  his  agents,  alone, 
without  collusion  and  assistance  ? 

11.  (a)  Why  does  the  author  make  Hamlet  imply  such  secrets 
implicitly  to  his  mother  in  our  hearing?  (ft)  What  has  been 
the  result  of  the  mother's  attempting  to  be  round  with  her  son, 
and  of  the  son's  effort  to  speak  daggers  to  his  mother  ?  (c)  Does 
the  Queen  now  think  Hamlet  mad  ?  (d)  Will  Hamlet  again  be 
insolent  to  his  mother?  (e)  What  sort  of  a  report  can  or  will 
the  Queen  make  to  her  husband  of  this  interview  ?  (/)  Why 
has  the  author  brought  about  this  change  of  feeling  between 
Hamlet  and  his  mother?  (g)  What  degree  of  grief  over 
(11.  211,  216)  the  killing  of  Polonius  does  Hamlet  show  as  the 
scene  ends  ? 

Act  IV.     Scene  I 

1.  (a)  What  are  (1.  1)  these  "sighs"  and  "profound 
heaves"?  What  is  the  occasion  that  calls  them  forth? 
(b)  Why  does  the  King  say  (1.2)   "translate"?      (c)    What 

u 


290  OUTLINE    QI'KS LIONS  [Act  IV. 

has  lie  been  expecting  from  this  interview  ?  (d)  Why  does  he 
ask  (1.  3)  where  Hamlet  is?  (e)  Do  you  take  it  that  the  Queen 
looks  and  acts  as  if  in  the  same  mood  as,  at  the  end  of  the  last 
scene,  we  left  her  in  ?  (/)  Has  she  spoken  before  (1.  4)  asking 
to  be  alone  with  the  King? 

2.  (a)  How  does  the  Queen  apparently  deliver  the  words 
that  she  now  (1.  5)  says  to  the  King?  Do  you  remember  her 
speaking  or  acting  similarly  before?  (ft)  Does  the  King's 
manner  seem  or  not  seem  changed  (1.  (5)  since  his  first  speaking 
to  the  Queen?  (c)  What  impression  does  the  Queen  (11.  7,  8) 
seem  anxious  to  convey?  (rf)  Why  does  .she  speak  at  once 
(11.  9-12)  of  the  killing  of  Polonius?  And  why  does  she  not 
tell  fairly  what  something  it  was  that  "stirred"  behind  the 
arias?  (<?)  What  effect  or  impression  does  the  King  seem  to 
wish  to  produce  (11.  12-1")).  by  his  comment,  upon  the  Queen  ? 
(/)   What  would  he  imply  (1.  20)  was  «  most  fit "  ? 

3.  («)  Why  does  the  King  (1.23)  again  inquire -where  Ham- 
let is?  (ft)  What  does  the  Queen  mean,  or  intend  (11.  25-27  . 
by  saying  "  his  madness  shows  itself  pure  "  ?  (c)  Was  Hamlet 
in  the  mood  (1.  27)  of  weeping  when  we  left  him  dragging  in 
the  body  of  Polonius  ?  Why  does  the  Queen  say  this  here? 
(d)  What  action  of  the  King  seems  (1.  28)  to  accompany  his 
next  words  to  the  Queen?  Why  does  not.  the  Queen  speak  fur- 
ther? What  is  now  her  real  or  affected  feeling?  (<>)  Why 
does  the  King  bid  (1.  :'>:'>)  the  "  friends  "  to  join  with  them  some 
"further  aid1'?  (/)  How  fully  do  you  imagine  the  King 
understands  Hamlet's  feeling  and  purpose  toward  himself? 
(g)  Why  does  the  King  wish  or  need  (1.  38)  to  say  "  Come. 
Gertrude"  ?     (h)   Are  the  lines  following  meant  for  comfort  or 


scene  3]  OUTLINE    QUESTIONS  291 

excuse?  (0  Why.  again  (1.  44),  "Come  away"?  (j)  How 
far  has  the  Queen  fulfilled  her  promise  to  Hamlet  (11.  197-199) 
in  the  last  scene  ? 

Scene  II 

1.  (a)  What  time  has  apparently  elapsed  since  the  last  act 
ended  ?  (ft)  How  does  it  chance  that  Rosencrantz  and  Guilden- 
stern  are  calling  loudly  after  Hamlet  when  they  were  sent  to 
arrest  him  ?  (c)  What  is  the  literal  or  exact  element  of  truth 
by  which  Hamlet  tries,  in  his  answer  (1.  6)  to  mystify  his 
friends?  (d)  How  does  he  deliver  (1.  9)  his  next  response? 
(ff)  What  is  his  point  (11.  12,  13)  in  the  following  explanation  ? 
Has  Hamlet  said  anything  like  this,  to  these  men  or  anybody 
else,  since  the  play  opened? 

2.  («)  What  does  Hamlet  (11.  17-20)  really  prophesy  ? 
(h)  Why  does  he  (1.  22")  say  "knavish,"  and  why  does  he 
decline  to  make  his  meaning  plain  by  repetition?  (c)  Does 
Hamlet  understand  (1.  24)  that  he  is  under  arrest  to  these  men  ? 
(d)  Why  does  Guildenstern  (1.27)  interrupt  Hamlet?  How 
was  "king"  probably  spoken?  (e)  What  is  the  difference 
between  Hamlet's  present  manner  of  dealing  with  these  two 
men,  and  the  way  he  treated  them  just  before  going  to  his 
mother's  closet?     How  do  a'ou  account  for  the  difference? 


Scene  III 

1.  («7)  What  is  the  time  of  this  scene  as  related  to  the 
preceding?  (b)  To  whom  is  the  King  offering  his  remarks 
concerning  Hamlet?     (o)  Who  apparently  are   the  distracted 


292  OUTLINE    QUESTIONS  [Act  IV 

multitude  (1.  4)  of  whom  he  seems  to  stand  in  awe  ?  (d)  What 
calls  out  from  the  King  (1.  11)  such  an  inquiry  ?  (e)  Where  is 
the  stress  in  his  next  question  ?  (/)  Does  the  King  appear  to 
suspect,  or  not,  that  there  are  people  at  court  in  league,  with 
Hamlet,  against  himself? 

2.  (a)  What  is  the  King's  mood  and  temper  (1.  17)  in  his 
first  question  to  Hamlet?  (b)  What  is  manifestly  Hamlet's 
purpose  (11. 18,  20  ff. )  in  answering  as  he  does?  (c)  What  real 
or  affected  feeling  (1.  26)  prompts  the  King's  exclamations? 
(d)  Why  does  the  King  say  (1.  41)  that  he  is  sending  Hamlet 
away  for  his  "especial  safety"?  (e)  Why  should  Hamlet 
pretend  surprise  (1.  47)  at  the  mention  of  his  place  of  exile? 
(/)  What  literal  element  of  meaning  (1.  49)  lies  at  the  bottom 
of  his  boast  ? 

3.  («)  What  makes  the  King  try  to  force  on  Hamlet  (1.  51) 
his  paternal  claims?  (6)  Why  does  Hamlet  (1.  49,  50,  51) 
pretend  enthusiasm  for  the  King's  decree?  (c)  Where  does  he 
(1.  54)  start  to  go  ?  (d)  Why  does  the  King  (1.  50)  decide 
that  Hamlet  shall  set  out  to-night  instead  (cf.  i.,  29)  of  in  the 
early  morning  ?  (e)  Why  does  the  author  make  the  King  con- 
fess (11.  04-66)  to  us  his  full  purpose  here  ? 

Scene  IV 

1.  (ff)  How  far  must  be  the  "plain  in  Denmark,"  where 
this  scene  is  laid,  from  Elsinore  ?  (/>)  What  time  must  have 
elapsed,  approximately,  since  the  last  scene?  (c)  Where  was 
the  present  enterprise  of  Fortinbras  reported  to  us?  (d)  Why 
should  not  Fortinbras  repair  to  the  court  to  pay  his  respects  to 


scene  5]  OUTLINE    QUESTIONS  293 

the  King  in  person  ?  (e)  How  does  it  chance  that  Hamlet, 
with  (1.  8)  Rosencrantz  and  Guildenstern  and  the  guards, 
comes  upon  these  "powers"?  (/)  What  seems  to  be  Ham- 
let's motive  or  reason  for  questioning  the  officer  ? 

2.  (a)  What  is  Rosencrantz's  point  or  purpose  (1.  30)  in 
sneaking  to  Hamlet  ?  (6)  Does  he  find  Hamlet's  docility  or 
civility  greater  or  less  than  usual  ?  (c)  Why  does  Hamlet  wish 
him  (1.  31)  to  "  go  a  little  before  "  ?  (d)  Why  should  the  new 
incident  and  information  have  afforded  (1.  32)  another  "occa- 
sion "  to  Hamlet's  mind?  (e)  Does  Hamlet  think  he  is  being 
conveyed  to  England  for  a  stay  of  some  months'  duration  ? 
Does  he  or  does  he  not  feel  that  he  is,  or  is  to  be,  out  of  reach 
of  the  object  of  his  revenge?  (/)  How  far  does  there  seem 
to  have  been  reaction,  after  the  killing  of  Polonius,  from  the 
thought  of  striking  the  King  down  in  cold  blood  ?  (g)  Just 
what  must  Hamlet's  last  sentence  (11.  65,  66)  here,  if  the  utter- 
ance of  a  sensible  and  resolute  mind,  mean  ? 

Scene  V 

1.  (a)  How  is  it  that  the  Queen  appears  here  with  Horatio  ? 
Has  she  shown  any  predilection  for  his  presence  or  services 
hitherto  ?  (6)  Why  is  she  not,  as  always — save  in  the  closet 
scene  —  shown  to  us  in  the  company  of  the  King?  (c)  Why 
should  Ophelia  in  her  madness  seek,  rather  than  some  one  with 
whom  she  has  been  more  familiarly  associated,  the  Queen  ? 
(d)  Why  is  the  Gentleman  made  (11.  4-7)  to  quote  so  many 
things  without  making  known  who  says  them  ?  (e)  What  is 
his  point  (11.  7-13)   in  the  remainder  of  what  he  says?     In 


294  OUTLINE    QUESTIONS  [Act  IV 

whose  interest  apparently  does  he  say  it?  (/)  What  is  the 
motive  (11.  14,  15)  of  Horatio's  suggestion  to  the  Queen  ? 
(g)  Why  does  the  author  make  us  know  (11.  17-20),  here  or  at 
all,  that  the  effect  of  the  closet  lessoning  is  permanent  ? 

2.  (a)  Why  is  it  well  that  Horatio  is  to  be  present,  and 
escorts  Ophelia  in  ?  (6)  What  characteristics  of  Ophelia  still 
show  themselves  ?  (c)  What  makes  the  deep  pathos  of  the 
following  paragraphs?  (d)  What  is  to  be  said  of  the  manner 
in  which  (1.  35)  the  King  is  introduced  ?  Why  is  he  brought 
in?  (e)  Why  is  not  his  inquiry  (1.  55)  replied  to  ?  (/)  Does 
it  seem  likely  (11.  57,  58)  that  Ophelia  saw  (cf.  1.  72,  below) 
her  father  buried  ?  (g)  Why  again  should  it  be  Horatio  (1.  G:!) 
who  attends  upon  her? 

3.  (a)  Why  does  the  King  talk  to  the  Queen  (1.  64  ff.)  of 
sorrows,  making  (1.  08)  "your  son  gone"  one  of  them? 
(6)  How  long  must  it  now  be  (1.  70)  since  Hamlet  went  away  '.' 

(c)  How  does  the  King  chance  to  know  the  matters,  done  in 
secret,  such  as  he  reports  of  Laertes  ?  What  does  this  show  as 
to  his  habitual  policy  and  state  of  mind?  (r?)  What  musl  be 
the  character  (1.  7'.))  of  the  "pestilent  speeches"  of  which  he 
makes  complaint?  (e)  Why  does  not  Gertrude,  even  after 
knowing  (1.  84)  the  degree  of  the  King's  dismay  and  danger, 
make  response?  (/)  Are  the  "  Switzers  "  (1.  85)  apparently 
now  and  always  near? 

4.  (a)  What  seems  to  be  Laertes's  aim  (11.  00,  04)  in  allowing 
the  crowd  to  make  treasonable  outcries  ?  (ft)  Why  is  not  the 
Queen  (11.  07,08)  more  excited?  (c)  Why  does  the  author 
keep   the  following  of  Laertes  (11.   100,  101)  from  our  sight? 

(d)  To  what  extent  seemingly  are  there  noblemen  or  courtiers 


scKMi  5]  OUTLINE    QUESTIONS  295 

m  this  uprising  ?  (c)  Which  of  these  men,  the  King  or  Laertes, 
now  subordinates  the  other?  (/)  What  does  the  Queen  do 
(11.  110,  114)  to  help?  (f7)  How  do  you  account  for  the  cool- 
ness and  even  repose  of  the  King  in  these  exciting  moments  ? 

5.  («)  Why  is  the  King  so  slow  in  making  known  who  is 
responsible  for  Polonius's  death  ?  (6)  Why  is  Ophelia  brought 
in  again,  with  Laertes  to  be  witness,  in  our  sight,  of  his  sister's 
pain  ?  (c)  How  fax  do  you  consider  his  words  to  her  and  of 
her  (11.  141-150)  the  unforced  and  genuine  expression  of  his 
soul  ?  How  far  was  his  appreciation  of  his  sister,  living,  as 
lively  and  complete  as  his  language  now  ?  (d)  Is  the  effect  of 
this  second  entry  of  Ophelia  stronger  or  less  strong  on  us  than 
the  first,  ?  What  are  the  reasons  ?  (e)  To  whom  does  she  give 
the  flowers  that  (11.  161,  162,  166-169)  she  selects  and  speaks 
about? 

6.  (a)  Why  is  Laertes  made  to  comment  (11.  155,  174,  187), 
in  our  hearing,  through  the  situation?  (6)  Why  is  Horatio 
nut  here  this  time  with  Ophelia?  What  is  the  effect  of  all 
upon  your  feelings  concerning  Hamlet  ?  (c)  Why  is  it  the 
King,  and  not  Laertes,  that  is  made  (1.  188)  to  take  up  the 
interrupted  topic?  (d)  What  do  you  say  of  the  tenor  and 
spirit  of  the  terms  (11.  192-195)  by  which  the  King  offers  to  be 
judged  ?  Is  such  unkingliness  usual  with  this  man  ?  Do  you 
or  do  you  not  think  that  it  can  be  excused  ?  (e)  Is  this  con- 
versation between  the  King  and  Laertes  wholly  private  ? 
(/)  What  can  be  the  meaning,  since  Hamlet  is  not  in  reach, 
of  the  King's  hint  (1.  204)  of  some  exemplary  punishment  ? 


296  OUTLINE    QUESTIONS  [Act  IV 


Scene  VI 

1.  (a)  Why  is  Horatio  asking  "  what"  rather  than  •'  who  " 
are  those  that  would  speak  with  him  ?  (ft)  Why  should  the 
persons  in  question,  having  letters  to  deliver,  be  subject  to 
such  preliminaries  ?    Is  the  caution  for  Horatio's  sake  or  theirs  ? 

(c)  What  do  you  say  of  the  salutation  (1.  7)  of  the  '"First 
Sailor"?  Does  it  argue  a  feeling  of  humility,  as  from  a  man 
of  the  lower  ranks,  or  excitement,  or  what  ?  (d)  What  is 
Horatio's  feeling,  apparently  (1.  8),  over  it?  (e)  Can  you  ac- 
count for  the  reference  to  Hamlet  (1.  10)  as  the  ''ambassador"  ? 
(/)  Why  yet  the  caution  (1.  11)  as  to  Horatio's  identity? 

2.  (a)  How  far  have  Hamlet's  actions  and  utterances  of 
late  tended  to  confirm,  to  you,  the  implications  of  the  last  para- 
graph of  the  last  act,  that  he  has  knowledge  of  the  King's  man- 
date, and  has  in  readiness  a  most  effectual  counterplot?  Or, 
do  you  conclude  it  all  but  fustian  and  braggadocio  ?  (6)  If  he 
has  arranged  any  counterplot,  would  Horatio  know  ?  (c)  If 
there  are  men  assisting  Hamlet  against  the  King,  are  they 
probably  or  not  sailors  and  like  people  from  the  lower  classes? 

(d)  How  should  Hamlet,  in  (1.  18)  the  grapple,  board  the 
pirate,  alone?  And  why  should  the  pirates  wish  or  consent  to 
get  clear  of  a  royal  ship,  without  spoil  ?  (c)  Are  the  pirates 
apparently  preparing  to  extort  ransom  from  the  King  for 
Hamlet,  or  not? 

3.  (a)  What  must  Hamlet  mean  (11.  20,  21)  by  "  thieves  of 
mercy"  ?  (ft)  What  good  turn  would  it  be  practicable  (1.  21) 
to  do  for  pirates?  (c)  Why  should  Hamlet  have  "letters" 
(11.   15,  22)  for  the  King?     (d)    If  Hamlet  has  been  brought 


scene  7]  OUTLINE    QUESTIONS  297 

back  by  accident,  and  against  his  will,  what  should  be  the 
reserves  (11.  24-25)  of  excitement  yet  to  tell?  (e)  Why  is 
Hamlet  (1.  2G)  in  hiding?  (/)  Are  or  are  not  these  "good 
fellows  "  (1.  26),  who  are  helping  thwart  the  King's  will,  of  the 
pirate  crew?  (g)  How  far  does  the  First  Sailor  now  seem,  in 
(11.  7-12)  his  earlier  words  to  Horatio,  to  have  had  a  pirate's 
consciousness  and  fear  ?  (h)  What  practicable  relations,  after 
scene  iii.  of  this  act,  can  Hamlet  expect  to  maintain  with  the 
King? 

Scene  VII 

1.  (a)  How  is  this  related  in  time  to  scene  v.,  and  to  the 
preceding?  (6)  Has  Laertes  made  and  brought  his  choice  of 
"wisest  friends"  for  this  interview,  or  not?  (c)  What  sort 
of  story  (11.  3-5)  has  the  King  told  Laertes?  (d)  What 
"  crimeful  "  and  "  capital  "  feats  (1.  6)  can  have  been  instanced 
against  Hamlet?  (e)  What  do  you  say  (11.  9-24)  of  the  King's 
two  reasons  for  not  restraining  or  punishing  this  culprit? 
(/)  What  is  now  (11.  25,  29)  Laertes's  mood  ? 

2.  (a)  What  is  noticeable  as  to  the  King's  mood  and  spirit 
in  this  interview?  (6)  What  would  the  King  have  probably 
ventured  upon  saying  (1.  35),  had  there  been  no  interruption? 
(c)  Why  did  not  the  "sailors"  (1.  39)  wait  to  deliver  the 
letters  (cf.  vi.,  13,  14)  after  the  manner  that  seems  to  have 
been  intended?  (d)  Why  does  Hamlet  at  once  in  his  letter 
(1.  44)  say  "naked,"  and  what  does  he  mean  by  the  word? 
(e)  Why  does  he  add,  in  postscript  (1.  51),  "  alone  "  ?  (/)  Where 
is  all  the  bitterness  and  savagery,  now  (11.  53-56),  with  which 
Laertes  lately  demanded  vengeance  ? 


298  OUTLINE    QUESTIONS  [Aci  IV. 

3.  («)  What  comes  now  (1.  58)  into  the  King's  mind  ? 
(6)  Does  the  King  seem  (11.  00-152)  to  be  in  the  same  fear  of 
Hamlet  as  in  the  first  scenes  of  this  act?  (c)  What  in  the 
new  idea  (11.  05-07)  seems  to  the  King  perhaps  better  than  the 
former  plan?  (d)  Why  does  not  Laertes  wish  (1.  69)  to 
be  the  principal,  rather  than  the  "organ,"  in  this  revenge? 
(e)  How  far  do  you  think  Hamlet  (1.  73,  102)  to  have  been 
envenomed  with  envy?  (/)  How  far  do  yon  take  the  '•  confes- 
sion'* (11.  0-1-101)  of  Lamond  to  have  been  as  the  King  reports? 

4.  («)  Why  is  Laertes  (1.  105)  unwilling  to  deduce  anything 
from  the  King's  talk,  why  does  he  force  all  back  upon  the 
King?  (6)  How  can  the  King,  in  view  of  Laertes's  late  defi- 
ance, ask  (1.  100)  if  his  father  was  dear  to  him?  (c)  What 
seems  to  be  the  King's  reason  (11.  109-122)  for  saying  so  much  in 
excuse  of  Laertes's  presumed  coldness  ?  (d)  Why  are  the  King's 
last  words  (11.  123-125)  so  satisfying  to  Laertes?  (?)  What  is 
to  be  said  (1.  125)  of  Laertes's  answer?  What  were  the  rights 
of  sanctuary  ?  What  should  a  righteous  king  say  or  do  with 
reference  to  such  a  declaration  ? 

5.  («)  Why  is  it  asked  (1.  128)  that  Laertes  keep  close 
within  his  chamber?  (6)  What  is  to  be  said  (11.  133-136)  of 
the  King's  reference  to  Hamlet's  nature?  Why  is  there  no 
mention  further  about  the  "envy"?  (c)  Why  does  Laertes 
think  he  needs  (1.  139)  to  anoint  his  sword?  (d)  Why  is  the 
King  too  (11.  1-19-153)  unconiident  of  outgeneraling  Hamlet? 
(e)  Why  should  the  Queen  venture  (1.  101)  to  interrupt  such 
an  interview  as  this?  (/)  Has  she  by  this  time  read  (1.  37) 
Hamlet's  letter?  Is  it  or  is  it  not  likely  that  she  will  look  foi 
further  measures  against  Hamlet? 


scene  7]  OUTLINE    QUESTIONS  299 

6.  (a)  Does  the  report  of  Ophelia's  death  seem  more  terri- 
ble, or  less,  as  heard  after  the  completion  of  the  plot?  (b)  Do 
the  names  of  the  flowers  and  the  associations  they  carry  seem 
to  deepen  or  not  deepen  the  tragic  effect  of  what  is  told? 
(c)  Why  should  not  here  be  the  climax  of  the  tragedy  (11.  171- 
182)  of  poor  Ophelia?  Why  is  not  the  recital  as  a  whole  more 
moving?  (d)  Does  the  Queen  seem  to  be  younger  or  older,  as 
she  speaks  in  these  paragraphs,  than  in  scene  iv.  of  the  last 
act  ?  (e)  Do  you  find  your  feelings  toward  Hamlet  in  any  way 
affected  by  this  situation  or  this  scene?  (/)  Does  Laertes's 
srief  seem  or  not  seem  deeper  than  when,  in  scene  v. ,  we  saw 
it  first?  (g)  Why  does  the  author  make  this  man,  by  (11.  188- 
100)  a  somewhat  violent  exit,  stop  the  whole  ? 

Act  V.     Scene  I 

1.  (a)  What  word  in  the  opening  paragraph  here  takes  the 
first  stress?  (6)  What  position  does  the  First  Clown  think  he 
is  maintaining?  (c)  What  is  evidently  the  conviction  of  the 
second  grave-digger  upon  the  same  question  ?  (d)  What  evi- 
dently has  happened  (11.  4,  5)  since  the  last  scene?  (e)  What 
point  (11.  6,  7)  is  behind  the  First  Clown's  next  utterance? 
(/)  Can  you  account  (11.  9-13)  for  his  next  paragraph  ? 

2.  (a)  Are  or  are  not  these  men  clowns  in  the  modern  sense  ? 
(b)  How  is  it  that  the  Second  Clown  finds  himself  (11.  14,  22) 
subordinated,  beaten  ?  (c)  What  does  the  First  Clown  try 
(11.  15-21)  next  to  say?  (d)  What  is  his  attitude  now  as  re- 
lated to  his  position  (11. 1,  2,  6,  7)  in  the  beginning  ?  (e)  Where 
does  the  Second  Clown  stand  (1.  22)  now,  as  regards  the  First 


300  OUTLINE    QUESTIONS  [Act  V. 

Clown's  present  position  and  (11.  3,  4)  his  own  first  insistence  ? 
(/)  What  can  be  the  author's  purpose  in  giving  us  this 
dialogue  ? 

3.  (a)  What  feeling  evidently  inspires  (11.  24-26)  the  Second 
Clown's  next  venture?  (6)  Why  should  the  First  Clown 
(11.  27-30)  so  readily  assent  and  stop  arguing  ?  (c)  Why  does 
he  not  allow  the  Second  Clown  any  chance  to  work  ?  (d)  Can 
you  imagine  how  the  conversation  in  progress  as  the  scene 
opened  was  started  ?  (e)  What  difference  between  the  First 
Clown  as  an  arguer  and  a  propounder  of  riddles?  (/)  At 
whose  expense  is  the  liquor  (1.  61)  to  be  procured  ?  (g)  Should 
there  be  naturally  a  protest  from  the  Second  Clown,  as  he  is 
sent  away  ? 

4.  (a)  Does  this  seem  to  be  a  good  place  for  Hamlet  to  be 
again  introduced  to  us  ?  (b)  How  does  it  chance  that  Hamlet 
is  here  in  the  churchyard  at  this  time,  and  Horatio  with  him  ? 
(c)  Why  is  it  that  they  appear  so  aimless,  coming  up  and 
standing  silently,  as  they  do,  while  the  Clown  sings  ?  (d)  How 
do  we  know  for  whom  the  grave  is  being  prepared  ?  (e)  What 
is  the  effect  of  this  singing,  under  all  the  circumstances,  upon  us  ? 
(/)  Why  are  the  interjections  (1.  65),  or  what  they  stand  for  in 
the  sung,  inserted  ?  ((f)  Can  you  see  any  reason  why  the  author 
makes  the  grave-i ligger  (1.  76)  throw  up  a  skull  ? 

5.  (a)  What  is  the  effect  of  bringing  Hamlet  and  his  friend 
thus  to  the  grave-digger  ?  <  ui  which  side  is  the  subordination  ? 
(b)  Do  you  or  do  you  not  find  Hamlet  as  brilliant  in  his  philoso- 
phizing as  hitherto?  (c)  Can  you  see  any  reason  why  Horatio 
contributes  so  little  to  the  conversation?  (rf)  Does  Hamlet 
seem  in  any  way  changed  from  what  he  was  before  his  exile  ? 


scene  1]  OUTLINE    QUESTIONS  301 

(e)  Is  there  any  apparent  purpose  in  thus  prolonging  the  talk 
(11.  90-115)  about  the  skulls?  (/)  Why  should  Hamlet  wish 
to  speak  (1.  121)  to  the  Clown  ?  Why  do  not  he  and  Horatio 
go  away  '? 

6.  (a)  Is  the  Clown's  wit  really  superior  to  Hamlet's  ?  Has 
the  author  had  Hamlet  put  down  by  anybody  hitherto  ? 
(ft)  Does  the  Clown  appear  to  recognize  who  it  is  that  has 
addressed  him  ?  (c)  Is  there  any  especial  point  in  having 
Hamlet  inquire  (1.  146)  how  long  the  Clown  has  been  a 
grave-maker?  (d)  Does  Hamlet  seem  of  the  same  years, 
through  the  play,  as  are  made  known  here  ?  (e)  Does  the 
Clown  probably  believe  what  he  says  to  Hamlet  (11.  173-177) 
about  tanners  ?  Why  is  he  made  to  say  it  to,  of  all  men,  the 
hero  of  this  play  ? 

7.  (a)  What  is  the  effect  or  purpose  (11.  186-202)  of  having 
the  skull  identified  ?  (b)  How  are  we  to  explain  this  preparing 
of  Ophelia's  grave  on  the  very  spot  where  Yorick,  from  the 
King's  household,  was  buried  ?  (c)  What  is  to  be  said  of  the 
continued  conversation  and  delay?  (d)  What  appears  (1.  214) 
to  be  Horatio's  feeling  and  meaning  ?  (e)  What  is  to  be  said 
of  the  verses  (11. 223-226)  with  which  Hamlet  closes  the  dialogue  ? 
Does  he  probably  think  them  good  poetry  ? 

8.  (a)  Why  does  Hamlet  say,  "Soft!  aside!"  and  propose 
that  they  (1.  232)  "couch"  from  sight?  (6)  Why  has  not 
Horatio  told  Hamlet  whose  grave  they  had  seen  preparing? 
(c)  How  is  the  subordination  of  the  dead  to  the  preparations 
for  burial  now  changed  ?  (d)  On  which  side  of  the  subordina- 
tion do  Hamlet  and  his  friend  belong  ?  (e)  Can  you  account 
for  the  lateness  or  delay  in  the  preparation  of  the  grave? 


302  OUTLINE    QUESTIONS  [Act  V. 

(/)  What  "  maimed  rites"  (1.  229)  are  Hamlet  and  his  friend 
observing  ? 

9.  (a)  In  what  spirit  does  Laertes  seem  (1.  233)  to  ask  his 
question  ?  Why  is  there,  at  first,  no  answer  ?  (6)  Why  does 
the  author  have  Hamlet  (1.  234)  remark  about  Laertes  ? 
(c)  Who  (1.  238)  has  overswayed  the  order,  and  for  what  rea- 
son ?  (d)  Why  does  Laertes,  after  knowing  (11.  239-244)  what 
has  been  done  for  him  and  his  sister,  abuse  (11.  250-252)  the 
priest  ?  (e)  After  Hamlet  perceives  (1.  252)  that  it  is  Ophelia 
that  is  dead,  why  is  the  Queen  made  next  to  speak  ?  (/)  Does 
the  court  in  general  probably  know  that  Ophelia  was  in  love 
with  Hamlet  ? 

10.  (a)  What  is  to  be  said  of  the  Queen's  tribute,  supple- 
menting thus  (1.  253)  with  flowers  the  rites  ?  (6)  Why  should 
Laertes  utter  his  imprecations  (11.  256-259)  so  publicly  ?  To 
what  extent  does  he  feel  the  grief  that  he  gives  vent  to  ? 

(c)  How  far  is  Hamlet  presumably  prepared  for  the  charge 
(11.  257,  258)  of  being  accountable  for  this  woe  ?  (d)  What 
motives  or  forces  bring  Hamlet  forward  now  out  of  his  hiding  ? 
(e)  What  prompts  his  asking  (1.  264),  "  What  is  he"? 
(/)  What  difference  in  the  natures  of  the  two  men  do  we 
discern,  as  (1.  268)  Laertes  seizes  Hamlet  by  the  throat  ?  Does 
Hamlet  respond  at  once,  or  at  all,  in  kind  ? 

11.  (a)  Is  there  any  difference  in  feeling  between  what  is  said 
(1.  274)  by  the  King  and  by  the  Queen  ?  (ft)  Why  does  Horatio 
presume  (1.  275)  to  control  Hamlet's  action  ?  To  what  extent 
has  such  a  thing  occurred  before  ?  (c)  What  does  Hamlet 
mean  (1.  276)  by  "fight  with  him"?     Why  does  he  say  it? 

(d)  Why  does  the  Queen  make  the  inquiry  (1.  278)  "  What 


scene  1]  OUTLINE    QUESTIONS  303 

theme?"  Does  she  ask  for  information?  (e)  Why  should 
Hamlet  protest  (11.  279-281)  again  ?  Does  he  mean  to  dis- 
parage Laertes's  fondness  for  his  sister  ?  (/)  Why  does  the 
King  say  (1.  282)  that  Hamlet  is  mad  ?  (g)  What  does  the 
Queen  (1.  283)  wish  that  all  or  any  one  should  do  ? 

12.  (a)  Why  does  not  Laertes  speak  ?  (b)  Is  Hamlet,  per- 
haps, just  awaking  to  a  realization  of  his  affection  ?  Why  does 
he  hold  Laertes's  protestations  (11.  287,  288)  so  personal? 
(c)  How  do  you  think  Hamlet  delivers  the  sentences  (11.  284-294) 
of  this  paragraph  ?  (d)  Are  the  matter  and  manner  of  Ham- 
let's utterances  like  what  we,  and  the  court,  have  heard  before  ? 
(e)  Why  does  the  Queen  (11.  294-298)  at  such  length  explain 
Hamlet's  outbursts  as  madness  ?  (/)  Now  that  Hamlet  has 
been  pronounced  mad  by  both  his  mother  and  the  King,  why 
does  he  not  go  back  to  his  crazy  role  f  When  did  he  use  it 
last? 

13.  (a)  Why  does  not  Laertes  answer  something  (11.  298-300) 
to  Hamlet's  appeals  ?  (6)  How  far  has  he  insisted  in  this 
interview  upon  his  prerogatives  as  a  prince  ?  Does  he  seem 
really  to  think  himself  (1.  301)  a  Hercules  ?  (c)  If  he  came  to 
the  churchyard  to  wait  for  something,  why  does  he  go  (1.  302) 
thus  away  ?  (d)  Why  does  he  not  take  Horatio,  and  why  does 
Horatio  stay  ?  (e)  Why  does  the  King  bid  him  (1.  303)  follow 
his  friend  ?  (/)  What  change  in  the  King's  policy  toward 
Hamlet  is  now  (1.  306)  apparent  ?  (gr)  Is  it  probable  that  the 
Queen  understands  the  meaning  (11.  307-309)  of  the  King's  last 
words? 


>04  OUTLINE    QUESTIONS  [Act  V. 


Scene  II 

1.  (a)  How  does  it  chance  that  Hamlet  and  Horatio  have  not 
discussed  the  matters  alluded  to  in  the  letter  (IV.,  vi.)  till  now  ? 
'&)  How  much  time  has  elapsed  since  the  last  scene  ?  And 
how  do  they  happen  to  be  now  together  ?  (c)  What  is  it  that 
Hamlet  seems  to  allude  to  by  (1.  1)  "  this  "  and  by  "  the  other"  ? 
id)  And  what  "  circumstance  "  (1.  2)  must  be  meant  ?  (e)  Does 
it  seem  usual  with  Hamlet  to  philosophize,  as  here  (11.  6-11),  in 
the  middle  of  a  narrative?  (/)  How  far  does  Hamlet's  con- 
duct, as  next  (11.  12-47)  recounted,  argue  weakness  and  inde- 
cision ? 

2.  (a)  What  does  Hamlet  mean  in  (1.  32)  "  wrote  it  fair"  ? 
Whose  hand  is  he  imitating  ?  (b)  How  many  days  had  Hamlet 
been  at  sea  when  the  "sea-fight"  (1.  54)  occurred?  (c)  How 
many  nights  had  passed  before  Hamlet  possessed  himself  of 
the  King's  commission  ?  (d)  Why  should  Horatio  be  surprised 
(1.  62)  at  the  revelations  ?  (e)  And  why  should  Hamlet,  at 
Horatio's  word,  again  question  whether  it  does  not  '  stand  him 
now  upon  '  (11.  63-70)  to  do  his  vengeance  ?  (/)  Why  is 
Horatio  silent  to  this  question  ? 

3.  (a)  How  does  Hamlet  mean  (1.  73)  "the  interim  is 
mine"  ?  What  will  he  do  with  it  or  in  it?  (6)  What  must 
they  assume  that  the  King  will  do  when  the  fate  of  Rosencrantz 
and  Guildenstern  is  known  ?  (c)  What  confidence  or  uncon- 
fidence  does  Hamlet  seem  to  feel  as  to  the  outcome  of  the 
whole?  (d)  How  far  do  you  find  Hamlet  the  same  man  he 
was  before  he  was  sent  away  ?  How  far  does  he  seem  changed  ? 
(e)  Is  there  significance  in  the  transition  from  his  own  danger 


scene  2]  OUTLINE    QUESTIONS  305 

and  vengeance  (1.  75)  to  his  little  quarrel  with  Laertes  ? 
(/)  Why  does  Horatio  say  (1.  80),  "Peace,"  at  the  approach 
of  footsteps  ? 

4.  («)  What  is  Osric  ?  (6)  Why  does  Hamlet  call  him  a 
'watorny,'  and  keep  him  waiting  by  asides  to  Horatio? 
(c)  Why  is  Osric  (11.  91,  92)  so  deferential?  (d)  What  of 
Hamlet's  manner  of  dealing  (11.  93-106)  with  his  deference  ? 
(e)  What  sort  of  language  does  he  use  in  attempting  (11.  107- 
113)  to  tell  his  message?  (/)  Why  should  Hamlet  (11.  114- 
122)  in  his  new  role  echo  the  dialect  of  this  absurd  messenger  ? 
(g)  How  long  does  Hamlet  keep  up  the  mimicry,  and  why 
stops?  (/i)  Why  does  Osric  answer  (1.  148)  "rapier  and  dag- 
ger,'''' to  Hamlet's  question? 

5.  (a)  Can  the  terms  (11.  168-172)  of  the  King's  bet  be 
made  to  square  with  arithmetic  ?  (6)  Why  should  not  Hamlet, 
after  recent  experiences,  have  suspected  treachery  in  the  sport 
proposed  ?  (c)  Why  should  he  wish,  in  any  case,  to  oblige 
the  King?  (d)  Why  does  the  author  delay  by  introducing 
(11.  186-198)  further  comment  of  the  friends  concerning  Osric  ? 
(e)  What  seems  to  be  the  King's  motive  (1.  201)  in  sending  so 
speedily  again  to  Hamlet?  (/)  Does  Hamlet  yet  seem  to 
divine  (11.  204-207)  that  mischief  is  being  planned  ?  (gr)  Has 
the  lord  been  told  to  say  (1.  208)  that  the  Queen  and  the  whole 
court  are  coming  down  ? 

6.  (a)  What  has  prompted  (11.  210,  211)  the  Queen's  advice  ? 
(b)  What  makes  Horatio's  mind  (1.  213)  misgive  ?  (c)  When 
did  Laertes  (1.  214)  go  into  France  ?  And  how  does  Hamlet 
happen  to  fix  the  time  of  his  resumed  interest  in  rapier-work  by 
such  a  circumstance  ?    (d)  How  is  Hamlet's  foreboding  (11.  216. 


306  OUTLINE    QUESTIONS  [Act  V. 

217)  to  be  accounted  for  ?  (e)  Why  does  he  not  yield  (11.  221, 
223)  to  Horatio's  wishes?  (/)  What  impressions  of  Hamlet's 
im  md  and  mind  do  his  lines  in  reply  (11.  224-229)  bring  you  ? 
Is  there  revolt,  or  regret,  or  fear  ? 

7.  (a)  What  do  you  say  of  his  words  (11.  231,  232)  to 
Laertes  ?  Does  Laertes  appear  to  accept  or  acknowledge  the 
reparation  or  not  ?  (&)  Does  Hamlet  think  that  the  King  and 
Laertes  and  the  others  who  overhear  believe  him  mad  ?  How 
can  you  explain  what  is  said  in  the  continuation  of  (11.  233-249) 
his  apology  to  Laertes  ?  How  far  is  he  sincere  ?  (c)  What  do 
you  say  (11.  249-257)  of  Laertes's  reply  ?  (d)  What  signs,  if 
any,  appear  (11.  257-262)  of  envy,  or  of  boyish  eagerness  to 
beat  a  rival  ?  (e)  Why  should  the  King  (11.  264,  265)  speak  or 
interfere  ?     (/)  What  is  Laertes  (1.  269)  doing  the  while  ? 

8.  (a)  What  would  naturally  be  the  thought  of  the  court  at 
seeing  the  King  (11.  273-283)  in  such  enthusiasm  for  one  who 
has  lately  scorned  him  ?  What  must  Hamlet  think  ?  (6)  How 
closely  is  the  King  (11.  283-288)  following  out  the  course  agreed 
upon  with  Laertes  ?  (c)  Is  Laertes  apparently  (11.  285,  286) 
making  equal  effort  with  Hamlet  ?  (d)  What  does  the  King  do 
(1.  287)  at  mention  of  the  pearl  ?  (e)  Is  it  or  is  it  not  of  obli- 
gation that  Hamlet,  while  trumpets  are  sounding  within  and 
cannon  boom  on  the  battlements  without,  drink  with  the  King? 
Why  does  he  not  (1.  289)  explain  ?  (/)  Is  or  is  not  the  King 
probably  (1.  292)  in  fear  ? 

9.  (a)  Why  should  Hamlet  need  or  wish  (1.  293)  to  '  rub  his 
brows,'  and  why  should  the  Queen  propose  that  he  use  her 
handkerchief?  (ft)  Why  should  she  propose  to  "carouse"  to 
his  fortune  ?    Has  the  Queen  been  shown  fond  of  wine  hitherto  ? 


scene  2J  OUTLINE    QUESTIONS  307 

(c)  Why  is  the  Queen  insistent  (1.  296),  in  spite  of  the  King's 
warning?  (d)  Is  it  incumbent  or  not  for  Hamlet  to  drink 
when  his  mother  carouses  to  his  success  ?  What  does  he  mean 
(1.  298)  by  "  dare  "  ?  (e)  What  relation  does  the  Queen's  next 
wish  (1.  299)  bear  to  (1.  293)  her  first  one  ?  (/)  Has  Hamlet 
apparently  other  or  deeper  feeling  than  he  (11.  302-304)  ex- 
presses to  Laertes  ? 

10.  (a)  How  is  it  that  they  scuffle,  and  exchange  rapiers  ? 
Is  it  poetic  license,  or  destiny  ? .  (6)  Does  the  King  seem 
relieved  (1.  306)  now  that  Hamlet  has  been  wounded  by  the 
poisoned  sword  ?  Is  the  King  probably  excited  ?  (c)  Why  is 
it  not  the  King  rather  than  Osric  that  notes  the  falling  of  the 
Queen  ?  (d)  Why  is  it  Osric  that  asks  (1.  309)  after  Laertes  ? 
Is  he  in  the  secret?  (e)  Why  does  Hamlet  think  only  (1.  312) 
of  the  Queen  ?  (/)  Is  the  King  making  any  effort  apparently 
to  give  her  comfort  or  tending  ?  (g)  Why  does  she  cry  out  to 
Hamlet  (11.  313,  314),  and  not  to  her  husband? 

11.  (a)  How  many  armed  followers  has  Hamlet  in  this 
company  ?  How  many  in  all  likelihood  has  the  King  ?  (b)  Why 
does  not  the  King  issue  counter-orders  ?  (c)  How  do  you  con- 
ceive Hamlet  in  these  moments?  Is  he  wanting  in  "resolu- 
tion" ?  When  has  he  risen  before  to  something  like  the  same 
energy  and  decision  ?  (d)  Where  does  he  suspect  the  treachery 
(1.  316)  will  be  found  to  lurk?  (e)  Why  should  either  of  these 
two  men,  who  are  avenging  fathers  slain,  regret  (11.  317-324) 
his  effort  ?  What  has  wrought  upon  Laertes's  mind  ?  (/)  Why 
does  Laertes  put  the  blame  wholly  (1.  324)  on  the  King? 

12.  (a)  Why  does  Hamlet  (1.  325)  say  "  too  "  ?  How  much 
of  the  plot  does  he  seem  to  have  divined  ?     (&)  What  means 


308  OUTLINE    QUESTIONS  [Act  \> 

(I.  326)  his  "then"?  What  is  the  animus  that  prompts  the 
stroke  ?  (c)  Why  do  not  the  court  folk  and  attendants  attempt 
some  sort  (1.  327)  of  defence  ?  (d)  Why  does  not  the  King 
protest,  or  bespeak  help,  until  struck  with  the  envenomed 
sword?  (e)  What  exactly  afterward  (11.  329-331)  does  Hamlet 
do?  (/)  Why  is  Laertes  so  hard  (11.  331,  332),  even  in  these 
moments  of  dying,  upon  the  King?  (g)  What  seems  to  be 
his  feeling,  from  (11.  333-335)  his  last  words,  of  Hamlet's 
character  and  worth  ? 

13.  (a)  Which  of  the  poisoned  hurts  was  first  received, 
Laertes's  or  Hamlet's  ?  Which  victim  should  be  the  first  to 
fall?  (6)  How  can  the  long  delay  of  Hamlet's  death  be 
accounted  for?  (c)  Does  Hamlet  appear  to  regret  his  fate? 
Does  he  show  signs  of  such  repose  as  should  follow  the  lifting 
of  his  burdens?  (cl)  Why  does  he  say  (1.  337)  "queen," 
instead  of  "  mother"  ?  (e)  What  seems  to  have  been  the  effect 
upon  the  court  (1.  338)  of  Hamlet's  magnificent  action? 
(/)  What  burden  is  still  (11.  340,  341)  upon  Hamlet's  soul? 

14.  (a)  Why  should  Horatio  have  resolved  (1.  345)  to  play 
the  antique  Roman  ?  (b)  What  do  you  say  of  Hamlet's  last 
effort  (1.  347)  of  bodily  energy?  (c)  How  does  this,  with 
(11.  348-353)  his  explaining  words,  measure  the  degree  of  the 
burden  (cf.  340,  341)  that  has  been  noted?  (d)  What  do  you 
say  of  the  egotism,  the  selfishness,  of  (11.  356-3(52)  his  last  words  ? 
(e)  What  of  (11.  363,  364)  the  following  lines,  as  a  man's 
tribute  to  a  man?  (/)  Why  does  the  author  bring  in  the 
approach  of  Fortinbras,  and  the  salutes,  before  Hamlet's  death  ? 
(g)  What  is  the  reason  why  (1.  365)  Fortinbras's  drum  comes 
hither? 


scene  2]  OUTLINE    QUESTIONS  309 

15.  (a)  What  dramatic  importance  in  having,  now  (11.  366, 
371),  foreign  spectators  admitted  to  look  upon  the  scene  • 
(b)  Why  is  it  well  that  Fortinbras,  who  is  to  have  the  throne, 
should  discern  and  declare  (11.  368-371)  the  significance  of  the 
sight?  (c)  Why  does  Horatio  propose  (11.  381,  384)  that 
Hamlet's  story  shall  be  told  before  the  bodies  of  the  dead  ? 
(d)  How  far  are  we  assured  potentially  that  Denmark  will  be 
persuaded  of  the  late  King's  usurpation  and  wickedness,  and 
that  the  Ghost's  vengeance  will  be  complete  ?  (e)  Why  is  the 
statement  of  Hamlet's  wish  (1.  360)  concerning  the  succession 
(11.  395,  396)  postponed?  (/)  Why  is  Hamlet,  alone,  to  be 
lifted  (1.  400)  to  the  stage,  before  the  curtain  falls  ?  (g)  What 
is  to  be  thought  of  the  use  of  ordnance  in  this  play  ?  How  far 
does  Shakespeare  generally  make  capital  of  noise  ? 

16.  (a)  Why  did  not  the  author  change  the  history  further, 
and  make  the  Queen  to  have  been  loyal  to  Hamlet's  father? 
(b)  Was  Hamlet's  life  a  failure  ?  (c)  What  seems  to  have 
caused  the  great  popularity  of  this  drama  ?  (d)  In  what  re- 
spects does  it  seem,  typically,  not  Shakespeare's?  (e)  What, 
to  you,  does  the  play  of  Hamlet  mean  ? 


INDEX   TO    NOTES 


about,  218. 
abridgements,  214. 
absolute,  245.. 
abuses,  218. 
acquittance,  241. 
act,  193,  194. 
admiration,  227. 
adulterate,  201. 
aery,  212. 
affront,  218. 
after,  217. 
alarm,  232. 
amaze,  217. 
amazement,  232. 
ambition,  229. 
amiss,  237. 
an,  200,  233. 
anchor's  cheer,  226. 
and  not,  241. 
an  if,  203. 
answer'd,  234. 
answer  well,  234. 
antic,  203. 
approve,  185. 
appurtenance,  213. 
arg:il.  244. 


argument,  212,  237. 

arm,  229. 

armour  of  the  mind,  229. 

arras,  209. 

as,  197,  236. 

as  a  stranger,  203. 

ases,  247. 

assays  of  bias,  205. 

assigns,  248. 

assurance,  245. 

as  winds  give  benefit,  193, 

at,  234. 

at  foot,  236. 

at  my  beck,  220. 

attent,  192. 

at  the  odds,  249. 

auspicious,  189. 

authorities,  235. 

a-work,  216. 

ban, 226. 
bare  bodkin,  219. 
barked  about,  201. 
barr'd,  189. 
batten,  231. 
beaten  way,  211. 

311 


312 


INDEX    TO    NOTES 


beautified,  208. 

beaver,  193. 

belike,  224. 

beut,  207. 

berattle,  212. 

besbrew  jealousy,  206. 

bespeak,  209. 

best  graces  spend,  189. 

bestowed,  217. 

beteem,  192. 

better'd,  250. 

bilboes,  247. 

bissou  rheum,  216. 

blank,  235. 

blanks.  226. 

blast,  187,  243. 

blench,  218. 

blister,  231. 

blood  and  judgment,  223. 

blossoms  of  sin,  201. 

board,  209. 

bodykins,  217. 

boisterous,  229. 

bosom,  208. 

bourn,  219. 

bouts,  243. 

bow  tbein,  189. 

brainish,  234. 

bravery,  248. 

break  thee  off,  185. 

breathe,  204. 

brief  chronicles,  217. 

brokers,  196. 

Iirow   of  woe,  188. 

bruit,  191. 


bugs,  247. 
but,  194,  211,  216. 
buttons,  194. 
buz,  213. 
buzzers,  238. 
by  and  by,  228. 
by  time,  242. 

candi'd,  223. 
canker,  194. 
canonized,  199. 
capable,  233. 
cap-a-pe,  192. 
carbuncles,  216. 
carouses,  250. 
carriage,  180. 
carry  it  away,  212. 
cart,  224. 
cast  beyond, 206. 
Castle,  183. 
cautel,  194. 
caviare,  215. 
cease,  229. 
censure,  195,  222. 
centre,  209. 
change,  192. 
chanson,  214. 
character,  195. 
chariest,  194. 
checking  at,  242. 
cherub,  236. 
chief  in  that,  195. 
choler,  227. 
chopine,  215. 
chorus.  226. 


INDEX    TO    NOTES 


31a 


chough, 248. 
circumstance,  202,  230. 
clepe,  197. 
climatures,  187. 
closely,  218. 
closet,  205. 
cockle  hat,  238. 
coldly  set,  236. 
collection,  237. 
colour,  219,  233. 
come,  bird,  202. 
come  short,  242. 
come  you,  204. 
commendable,  190. 
comment  of  thy  soul,  223. 
commerce,  220. 
common  stages,  212. 
commutual,  225. 
companies,  207. 
compelled,  240. 
complexion,  197. 
comply  with,  213,  249. 
conceit,  217,  232. 
conceit  upon,  238. 
conception,  209. 
concernancy,  248. 
conclusions,  234. 
confederate  season,  226. 
confine,  188. 
confines,  210. 
confusion,  218. 
considered,  208. 
cousonancy, 211. 
contagion,  243. 
continent,  237,  248. 


coni  ruction,  231. 

converse,  204. 

conveyance,  236. 

convoy  is  assistant,  193. 

coped  withal,  223. 

co ted,  211. 

count,  241. 

countenance,  235. 

counter,  239. 

crack  the  wind,  196. 

crafts,  234. 

crafty  madness,  218. 

c rants,  246. 

credent,  194. 

cried  in  the  top  of,  215. 

cries  on  havoc,  250. 

crow-flowers,  243. 

crowner,  244. 

cry,  227. 

cunnings,  243. 

curb,  233. 

currents,  230. 

cut  purse,  232. 

dagger,  248. 
daisy,  240. 
Dane,  184. 
Danskers,  204. 
dead  vast,  192. 
dearest,  192. 
decline  upon,  201. 
defeated,  189. 
definemeut,  248. 
deliberate  pause,  235. 
Denmark,  185. 


314 


INDEX    TO    NOTES 


denote  me  truly,  190. 
deprive,  199. 
desires,  207. 
devil,  233. 
dexterity,  192. 
die,  226. 
dilated,  189. 
disappointed,  202. 
disclaiming  from,  249. 
disclos'd.  24<i. 
discourse,  237. 
discourse  of  reason,  192. 
dispatch'd,  201. 
disposition,  199. 
distemper,  233. 
distempered,  227. 
distill'd,  193. 
distracted  globe,  202. 
distrust  you,  225. 
divulging,  234. 
doth  glow,  231. 
double,  195. 
double  business,  229. 
d.mbt,  193,  207. 
doubtful,  245. 
doubt  thou, 208. 
douts,  243. 
down-gyved,  205. 
draw  on,  250. 
dreadful,  L93. 
dreadfully  attended,  211. 
drift  of  circumstance,  218. 
dull,  195. 

dumb-show,  222,  224. 
duty, 189. 


eager,  196,  201. 

eale.  198. 

ecstasy,  205. 

edge,  218. 

effects,  233. 

eisel,  246. 

emulate,  186. 

enactures,  225. 

encompassment  and  drift,  204. 

engag'd,  230. 

enginer,  234. 

enseamed,  232. 

enviously,  237. 

escoted,  212. 

espials,  218. 

eternal  blazon ,  200. 

even-Christian,  244. 

excellent  differences,  248. 

excrements,  233. 

expectancy  and  rose,  221. 

expostulate,  208. 

express,  211. 

express'd  in  fancy,  195. 

extent,  213. 

extravagant  and  erring,  188. 

eyases,  212. 

eye,  236. 

fall,  225. 

falsely  borne  in  hand,  208. 

famous  ape,  234. 

fantasy,  184. 

fantasy  and  trick  of  fame,  237. 

fardels,  219. 

fares,  223. 


INDEX    TO    NOTES 


315 


fare  thee  well,  202. 

fashion  and  toy  in  Mood,  194. 

fashion  of  himself,  221. 

fast,  200. 

father  lost,  190. 

favour,  240,  245. 

fay,  210. 

fear,  229,  239. 

feathers,  227. 

feature,  221. 

fee,  199. 

feelingly,  248. 

fell,  250. 

fennel,  240. 

fetch  of  warrant,  204. 

fine,  239. 

fine  of,  245. 

fit,  249. 

flames,  200. 

flaw,  245. 

flies,  225. 

flushing,  192. 

fly  at  anything,  215. 

foil,  249. 

fond,  202. 

fond  and  winnowed,  249. 

fool  me  to  the  top  of  my  bent,  228. 

fools  of  nature,  199. 

for,  246. 

fordoes,  206. 

foreign  mart  for  implements,  186. 

forgeries,  204. 

forgery,  242. 

four  hours,  209. 

frame,  227. 


free,  217,  236. 
fretted,  211. 
friending,  203. 
frock  or  livery,  233. 
from,  222. 
front,  231. 
fruit,  207. 
full  of  bread,  230. 
fust,  237. 

gaged,  186. 
gain-giving,  249. 
'gainst  that  season  comes,  188. 
gait,  189. 
galled,  226. 
gambol,  233. 
gender,  241. 
gentry,  207. 
gib,  234. 
gibber,  187. 
give  good  night,  184. 
given  my  heart  a  winking,  209. 
give  th'  assay,  208. 
give  them  seals,  228. 
glass  of  fashion,  221. 
glimpses  of  the  moon,  199. 
God  'ild,  238. 
good  kissing  carrion,  209, 
good  now,  186. 
goose-quills,  212. 
go  to,  244. 
go  together,  203. 
grace,  191. 
gracious,  218. 
I  grained,  232. 


316 


INDEX    TO    NOTES 


grating,  218. 
great  article,  248. 
great  showing,  248. 
grief,  221. 

gross  and  scope,  186. 
groundlings,  222. 
Guildenstern,  206. 
gules,  216. 
gulf,  229. 
gyves,  241. 

handsaw,  213. 

handsome,  215. 

hangers,  219. 

happily,  188,  213. 

happiness,  210. 

haps,  236. 

hatchment,  240. 

have  after,  200. 

have  me,  205. 

haviour,  190. 

head,  239. 

hebenon,  201. 

hectic,  236. 

hedge,  239. 

hent,  230. 

Herod.  222. 

hey-day,  231. 

hide  fox  and  all  after,  235. 

hire  and  salary,  230. 

his  canon,  191. 

his  means  of,  240. 

his  whole  function,  217. 

hoar  leaves,  243. 

hoist,  234. 


holds  quantity,  225. 
hold  up,  244. 
honest,  219. 
hoodman  blind,  231. 
hugger-mugger,  238. 
humour,  207. 
husbandry, 195. 
Hyperion,  191. 
Hyrcanian  beast,  216, 

idle,  223. 
ill-breeding,  237. 
image,  226. 
immediate,  191. 
impart  towards,  191. 
impasted,  216. 
implorators,  196. 
imponed,  248. 
important,  232. 
importing,  189. 
imposthume,  236. 
impress,  186. 
iucorporal,  232. 
incorps'd,  242. 
incorrect,  190. 
in  death,  199. 
indentures,  245. 
index,  231. 
indict,  215. 
indifferent,  210,  220. 
indifferently,  222. 
indu'd,  243. 
ingenious,  246. 
inhibition,  211. 
in  little,  212. 


INDEX    TO    NOTES 


317 


/nquire  me,  203. 
insinuation,  248. 
instance,  239. 
instances,  225. 
instrumental,  189. 
iu  this  consequence,  204. 
in  this  garb,  213. 
intil,  244. 
inurn'd,  199. 
investments,  196. 
it,  193. 

jealousy,  238. 
Jephthah,  214. 
jig,  216,  220. 
jig-maker,  223. 
John-a-dreams,  217. 
jointress,  188. 
jowls,  244. 
Julius  Cffisar,  223. 
jump,  186. 
jump  upon,  250. 

kept  short,  234. 
kettle,  250. 
kibe,  245. 
kind,  190. 
kindless,  218. 

lack,  203. 

lady  and  mistress,  214. 

laps'd,  232. 

larded,  238,  247. 

lazar-like,  201. 

leans,  236. 


leave,  204,  225. 

leave  and  favour,  189. 

leave  their  tinct,  232. 

lenten,  211. 

Lethe  wharf,  200. 

lets,  200. 

level,  239. 

liberal,  243. 

liberal  conceit,  248. 

lightness,  209. 

like,  193. 

likes,  208. 

limed,  230. 

living' monument,  247. 

lofty,  188. 

loggats,  245. 

long  live  the  king,  184c 

lose  your  voice,  189. 

loves,  188,  193. 

luxury,  202. 

maimed,  245. 

main,  236. 

make  you  from,  192. 

manner,  197. 

market,  237. 

mass,  231. 

matin,  202. 

mazzard,  244. 

me,  215,  217. 

means  to,  240. 

merely,  191. 

metals  base,  235. 

miching  mallecho,  224. 

milch,  216. 


318 


INDEX    TO    NOTES 


milky,  216. 
mineral,  234. 
mobled,  216. 
modesties,  211. 
moiety  competent,  186. 
moist  star,  187. 
mole  of  nature,  197. 
monsters,  220. 
mope,  232. 
more  above,  208. 
more  nearer,  204. 
moreover  that,  206. 
more  richer,  227. 
mortal  coil,  219. 
most,  203. 
mote,  187. 
motion,  231. 
mould,  221. 
mountebank,  242. 
mourn  for,  209. 
mourning  duties,  190. 
mouths,  237. 
mows,  212. 
much,  184,  219. 
muddy-mettled,  217. 
murdering  piece,  238. 
mutine,  232. 
mutines,  247. 
my  virtue,  233. 

napkin,  250. 
native  hue,  219. 
nature  crescent,  194. 
nature's  livery,  198. 
naught,  224. 


nave,  216. 
necessary,  225. 
necessity,  238. 
Nemean,  200. 
Nero,  228. 
nerve,  200. 
nickname,  220. 
nomination,  248. 
no  more,  219. 
nor  do  not,  222. 
nor  it  cannot,  192. 
nothing  stick,  238. 
not  mine,  223. 
not  thinking  on,  224. 
noyance,  229. 

obsequious  sorrow,  190. 
observe  his  inclination,  205, 
obstinate  condolement,  190. 
occasion,  195. 
occulted,  223. 
occurrents,  250. 
odds,  249. 
o'er,  235. 
o'ercrows,  250. 
o'er-raught,  218. 
o'ersized,  216. 
o'erteemed  loins,  216. 
of,  203,  237. 
of  a  doubt,  198. 
of  every  word,  239. 
offence,  203,  230. . 
offendendo,  244. 
of  general  assault,  204. 
of  health,  198. 


INDEX    TO    NOTES 


31ft 


of  one  defect,  198. 

of  our  attribute,  197. 

of  shreds  and  patches,  232. 

of  so  long  life,  219. 

of  the  which  one,  222. 

of  us,  207. 

of  vantage,  229. 

of  wisdom  and  reach,  205. 

of  you,  211. 

omen,  187. 

on,  250. 

once,  202. 

on  mount,  241. 

open  VI,  207. 

operant,  225. 

opposite,  226. 

order,  246. 

ordiuant,  248. 

ore,  234. 

or  ere,  192. 

orisons,  219. 

our  loves,  225. 

outstretched,  210. 

overpeering,  239- 

packing,  234. 
paddock, 234. 
painted,  219. 
pajock,  227. 
pales,  197. 
pall,  247. 
pansies,  239. 
pardon,  227. 
parle,  185. 
partisan,  188. 


passage,  250. 

passages  of  proof,  242. 

passion,  217,  240. 

pass  of  practice,  242. 

past,  229. 

pat,  230. 

patience,  223. 

peace-parted,  246. 

peak,  217. 

pelican,  239. 

Peliou,  246. 

perdy,  227. 

periwig-pated,  222. 

perpend,  208. 

peruse,  242. 

petar,  234. 

physic,  230. 

pickers  and  stealers,  228, 

pigeon-liver'd,  217. 

pioner,  203. 

plausive,  198. 

played  the  desk,  208. 

plot,  237. 

plurisy,  242. 

ply  his  music,  205. 

pole,  185. 

politic  worms.  235. 

porpentine,  200. 

posset,  201. 

posy,  224. 

precurse,  187. 

pregnant,  210,  223. 

prenominate,  204. 

presently,  218,  250. 

presentment,  231. 


320 


INDEX    TO    NOTES 


present  push,  246. 
pressure,  2'_'l'. 
pressures,  202. 
prevent  discovery,  211. 
primrose,  195. 
primy  nature,  104. 
.   probation,  188. 
process,  201,  229. 
profound,  234. 
progress,  236. 
proof,  216,  231. 
proper,  248. 
property,  217. 
property  of  easiness,  244. 
proportions,  189. 
protests,  226. 
purgation,  227. 
purging,  210. 
pursy,  233. 
put  on,  196,  250. 
puts,  221. 

quaintly,  204. 
quality,  215. 
quest.  244. 
question,  218,  230. 
questionable,  198. 
quick,  245. 
quiddits,  245. 
quillets,  245. 
quoted,  206. 

rack.  216. 
ranker.  236. 
razed,  227. 


readies,  199. 

recks  not  liis  rede,  195. 

recorders,  227. 

recover  the  wind,  228. 

reechy,  234. 

region,  216. 

relative,  218. 

relish,  220. 

remorse,  216. 

removed,  199. 

repel  his  letters,  206- 

replication,  235. 

respect,  219. 

respects,  225. 

rests,  230. 

retrograde,  191. 

rights  of  memory,  250 

rivals,  1S4. 

romage,  187. 
rood,  230. 
Roscius,  213. 
rose,  231. 
rosemary,  239. 
Rosencrantz,  206 
roses,  227. 
round,  209,  221. 
rouse,  191,  197. 
row,  214. 
rub,  21'.'. 
rue,  240. 

sallets,  215. 
salt  wash,  224. 
salvation,  243. 
sans,  231. 


INDEX    TO    NOTES 


321 


say,  209. 

say'st,  244. 

'sblood,  212. 

scarf'd,  247. 

scene  individable,  214. 

scholar,  185. 

sconce,  245. 

scope,  226. 

scourge,  235. 

scrimers,  242. 

sealed  hard  consent,  189. 

season,  1!>2. 

seasons,  225. 

season  this,  195. 

seiz'd  of,  186. 

semblable,  248. 

Seneca,  214. 

sense,  190,  233. 

sensible,  239. 

shall,  203. 

shape,  243. 

shark'd  up,  ! 

shent,  228. 

should,  210. 

shouldst  be,  200. 

shrewdly,  196. 

shriving  time,  247. 

siege,  242. 

simples,  242. 

singular  and  peculiar,  229. 

sith,  206. 

si:  we,  185. 

siz'd,  225. 

skyish,  246. 

slander,  196. 


sledded  P.dacks,  185. 

sliver,  243. 

slow,  189. 

soft, 'Jill. 

soil  our  addition,  197. 

so  neighboured  to,  207. 

so  please,  221. 

sort,  187. 

sovereignty  of  reason,  199. 

spendthrift  sigh,  242. 

splenitive,  246. 

springe,  250. 

springes,  196. 

star,  209. 

stars,  187. 

station,  231. 

statists.  247. 

still,  187,  207,  242. 

stithy,  223. 

stomach,  187. 

stops,  228. 

stoup,  244. 

straight,  243. 

strike,  188. 

stuck,  243. 

substance,  210. 

suit  of  sables,  223. 

supervise, -247. 

suppliance  of  a  minute,  194. 

supply  and  profit,  207. 

supposal,  189. 

Switzers,  238. 

swoopstake,  239. 

'swounds,  217. 


322 


INDEX    TO    NOTES 


tables,  202. 

taints,  204. 

takes,  188. 

take  you,  204. 

tardy  off,  222. 

tarre,  212. 

tax  liira  home,  229. 

tell,  193. 

temper'd,  250. 

tenable,  193. 

tend,  195,  236. 

tender,  196,  236- 

tender  me,  196. 

tent,  218. 

termagant,  222. 

terms,  229,  241. 

than  hate  to  utter,  206. 

that,  188,  240,  243. 

the  nonce,  243. 

thereabout,  216. 

thews,  194. 

thick  and  unwholesome,  238. 

thou,  233. 

thought,  219,  240. 

throughly,  239. 

throwing  about,  212. 

tickle  o'  the  sere,  211. 

till  he,  190. 

time,  219. 

to,  191,  201. 

to  do,  212. 

to  doomsday,  187. 

to  hide,  206. 

to  him,  208. 

to  his  own  scandal,  198. 


toils,  186. 

took  the  fruits,  209. 

top  of  question,  212. 

topp'd,  242. 

to  take,  230. 

touch'd,  240. 

toward,  186,  250. 

to  withdraw  with  you,  228. 

toy,  237. 

toys  of  desperation,  199. 

trade,  227. 

trail  of  policy,  207. 

trick,  243. 

triumph  of  his  pledge,  197. 

tropically,  226. 

true-penny,  203. 

truly  found,  207. 

turn  Turk,  227. 

tyrannically,  212. 

unanel'd,  202. 
unbated,  242. 
unbrac'd,  205. 
uncharge  the  practice,  242 
undergo,  198. 
ungracious,  195. 
unhousel'd,  202. 
unimproved,  186. 
union,  250. 
unmaster'd,  194. 
unpregnant  of,  217. 
unprevailing,  190. 
unproportion'd,  195. 
unshaped,  237. 
unsifted,  196. 


INDEX    TO    NOTES 


325 


unyoke,  244. 
upon  my  sword,  203. 
upon  your  hour,  184. 
upspring,  197. 
uses,  191. 
usurp,  227. 
usurp'st,  185. 

vailed  lids,  190. 
valanced,  214. 
validity,  225. 
vice  of  kings,  232. 
violent  property,  206. 
virtue,  201. 
virtue  of,  194. 
visitation,  207. 
voice,  249,  250. 
vouchsafe  your  rest,  207. 
vulgar,  195. 

wanton,  250. 
warrantise,  245. 
wassail,  197. 
watch,  209. 
ways,  196. 
weeds,  242. 
what,  240. 


what  it  should  he,  207. 

what  should  be  the  fear,  199. 

wherein,  238. 

while  the  grass  grows,  228. 

who,  209. 

wholesome,  226,  231. 

will,  237. 

will  he,  nil]  he,  244. 

windlasses,  205. 

wit,  208. 

witching  time,  228. 

witbal,  210,  243. 

Wittenberg,  191. 

woo't,  246. 

word,  202. 

would,  230. 

wrack,  206. 

wretch,  209. 

Yaughan,  244. 

yaw,  248. 

yeoman's  service,  247. 

yesty,  249. 

you,  207. 

your  cause  of  distemper,  228. 

your  entreatments,  196. 

youth  to  itself  rebels,  194. 


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Bong-fellow's  Courtship  of  Miles  Standish,  and  Minor 
Poems.  Edited  by  W.  D.  Howe,  Butler  College,  In- 
dianapolis. Ind.  _  _     _ 

Sfcongfellow's  Evangeline, .  Edited  by  Lewis  B.  Semplh, 
Commercial    High    School,    Brooklyn,    N.    Y. 

Longfellow's  The  Song"  of  Hiawathc.  Edited  by  Elizabeth 
J.  Flbminq,  Teachers'  Training  School,  Baltimore,  Md. 


Pocket  Series  of  English  Classics — Continued 


Swift's  Gulliver's  Travels.     Edited  by  Clifton  Johnson.    ' 

Tennyson's  Idylls  of  the  King.  Edited  by  Charles  W. 
French. 

Tennyson's  In  Memoriam.     Edited  by  J.  W.  Pearce. 

Tennyson's  Shorter  Foems.  Edited  by  Charles  Read 
Notter. 

Tennyson's  The  Princess.     Edited  by  Wilson  Farrand. 

Thackeray's  Henry  Esmond.  Edited  by  John  Bell  Henne- 
man,   University   of  the   South,   Sewanee,    Term. 

Thackeray's  English  Humorists.  Edited  by  J.  C.  Castle- 
man. 

Thoreau's  Walden.     Edited  by  Byron  Ries. 

Trevelyan's    life   of   Macaulay.     Selections.  Preparing. 

Virgil's  Aeneid.  Translated  by  Conington.  Edited  by 
Edgar  S.  Siiumway. 

Washington's  Farewell  Address,  and  "Webster's  First  Bun- 
ker Hill  Ovation.      Edited   by   William   T.    Peck. 

Whittier's  Snowbound  and  other  Early  Foems.     Edited  by 

A.   L.   BOOTON. 

John    Woolman's    Journal. 

Wordsworth's  Shorter  Foems.     Edited  by  Edward  Fulton 


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